


It's Called a Baby, Sweetheart: The Offical Story of Isabelle Wilde

by Nexi0us



Category: Zootopia
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-05
Updated: 2017-06-28
Packaged: 2018-10-28 11:06:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 34,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10830003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nexi0us/pseuds/Nexi0us
Summary: In an attempt to prove his love Nicholas Wilde undergoes a procedure that will not only change his life but enhance it to a point he'd never known before. His procedure results in the birth of his daughter, Isabelle Wilde, and this is her story. In collaboration with Trashasaurusrex, I'm proud to present Isabelle Wildes untold story...





	1. A New Life Together (Pov Nick Wilde)

**Author's Note:**

> Its Called a Baby. Sweetheart: The Official Story of Isabelle Wilde.
> 
> Before we dive into the story, I would like to thank Trashasaurusrex for giving me the chance to work with her and being the one to create Isabelle's story! To those of you who don't know who Isabelle is; she is, if I'm not mistaking, the first child OC of Nick Wilde. Though how she came to be is somewhat of a grey area! Many people are unaware of her actual origin or are left with a large amount of questions, my overall goal is to answer them in a way that has not been presented before! Now please note that, if you have seen Trash's work you know that she draws a lot of Mpreg images of Nick, this is how Isabelle came to be, so for the first few chapters I will be focusing on that alone (who her origin mother was, why everything happened). I will admit this is a rather out of the box fic, but there will be a second part to this which will primarily showcase Isabelle's life, growing up with only Nick but having Judy as a closer friend than before, and following her steps and growth from a young kit to a bright and inspiring young woman!
> 
> The story will be told in a mixture of POVs (point of views), I will inform you which one at the beginning of each chapter (Pov NAME)! Side note, despite some basic romance this story will be kept PG unless I'm told otherwise xD

 

_Life can be an interesting thing, it can surprise you at the most inconvenient of times. It can hit you when you're at your lowest or it can show you the light at the end of the long dark tunnel, that's how dad always described it and it always stuck with me all the way through my childhood and well into my adulthood. Well that plus a long list of things I learnt along the way, but nothing stuck more than that message, especially after everything he went through and did for me…_

(Pov Nick)

The day felt like any other, the sun was shining brightly and the sky was a vibrant blue. The cars were passing at their consistent speeds, of course some faster than others. Yet where was I during this stunning and gorgeous day? I was at my new home, well an apartment but none the less it was home, unloading boxes from the back of the mover's truck into the apartment. It was a relatively new place, just outside Zootopia's downtown region so there was a mixture of culture plus the occasional modern scene, to which I have been more inclined to notice and admire after I had joined the ZPD. I stood and looked up at the apartment, I was taken by a sense of pride and accomplishment. This was something I had always wanted but due to the constant fear of losing it all during my hustling days, having it now felt remarkable. Grabbing the next box with a large smile on my face I made my way into the building and into the elevator. I was lucky enough the get the eighteenth floor, so I had a great view of the city which I'm sure at night would look even better than during the day! At the ding of the elevator the doors slid open and I walked to my new apartment, number 1810. I supported the box on the wall just outside of the door as I opened it, then using my back I pushed the door open. I sighed happily as I looked around at the open room filled with boxes and some furniture already in place. Nothing too major, just basic stuff like my couch and a few cabinets and a T.V stand which was pushed to the wall but was still missing the T.V. I walked to the centre of the room, not even caring where I put the box at this time, I'd reorganize it later anyway.

The apartment was modern in design and was very open concept, which I loved. I had even gone out and purchased all new, well, everything! I threw out my old bed, a lot of my dressers and cabinets were all new, Judy even went out with me a few times and helped me pick out things that would match the colour, that day turned into a case in itself when a customer at AardMart was hysterical over the price of bread, but that's a story for another time! The movers, two beavers who I could only assume were brothers due to their steady bickering, came in with the last of the boxes. I paid them and shook their paws, thanking them for their time, after all they were working long before I got here to help, gotta love paperwork. I stood there for a moment, after the movers left, and sighed happily. Looking around the apartment again and loving the simplistic fact that I was starting my life anew. My thoughts were interrupted when someone came around behind me and, wrapping their arms around my waist, hugged me. I couldn't help but jump a little inside, but despite being taken by surprise I already knew who it was.

"It's perfect." Heather said as she came around beside me and leaned against me. I wrapped my arm around her and kissed her on her head.

"Isn't it."

"This is right Nick." Heather said looking up at me.

"Well I think we could at least try to organize everything first, y'know, get rid of the boxes, unpack everything."

"Not that smarty pants!" Heather said giggling. "Us. Finally living together after so many years, starting a life together!"

Heather and I have known each other since we were kits growing up in the city. She was a bit shorter than myself with white fur and violet eyes, almost like Judy's. We grew up dealing with the same type of statements "you can't trust foxes. Probably up to no good." and so on. But as we grew up we learned to live up to the comments. We were always finding new ways to cause trouble or make a quick buck, most of which worked for the most part but there were times when the person we were hustling got smart, it got us more than a few stern looks from both of our folks. As the two of us grew up she started to fade away from the type of work I was more prone to and decided to try and go to school, she always the more book smart one of the two of us. She, ironically enough, wanted to be a teacher. I found it funny, as kits neither one of us enjoyed school. Heck we even messed with the teachers on more than one occasion. But she was determined to help kids, I don't know why but she did always love them. She grew up with two younger siblings, both brothers who were a few years younger than she was. When she wasn't out 'terrorizing' the city with me she would be at home helping her mom with her brothers, not to mention basic chores around the house. I'm still not sure if she chose to do that or if she was forced to, I never actually asked.

Even though she was off to a university I still stuck around. We had the type of friendship that, no matter how long we were apart we could pick up right where we left off. It was a factor we both realized but never took advantage of. After some time, I gained the courage to ask her to be more than my friend, it may sound odd but I was a bit nervous when I asked her. I mean she was like a sister to me, she was one of my only real friends beside Finnick. But that was more than five years ago, give or take a year or so. Now of course we would go and stay over at one another house for the night, or two, maybe three sometimes, but we never made it official.

Not long after I had graduated the Police Academy and was assigned my position as Judy's partner and overall pain in the tail, I had decided it was time to start an actual life, and I figured no time like the present. When I finally asked if she wanted to, once again, take our relationship to the next level she couldn't have been more excited! That was about a month ago, in the meantime I searched all of Zootopia for a place that met both of our wants. For me; it had to be close to the ZPD, looked nice, and had a great view. Heather was in the same boat as me, she was a bit more technical than I was but she had one requirement that stood out to me, it had to be close to a school. But seeing that she was going to school to be a teacher I didn't give it any thought.

Our first night we unpacked the basics, some of our clothing, our bedding, but we decided to leave everything until sometime tomorrow, we didn't even bother to unpack the dishes instead we just ordered some pizza. Peppers, onions and pineapples on one half for her, no I have no idea why she likes that she just does, on mine I was a lot more basic and normal! Three cheese which was heaven for the taste buds! But just like my reaction to her half she was disgusted with my pizza.

"How can you eat that!" she chuckled between bites.

"How can you not! This is a masterpiece, compared to that monstrosity you call a pizza." I said teasingly.

"Its called being healthy, and it tastes good! If you would give it a try you would agree!"

"I wouldn't eat that pizza if I was starving at your parent's family dinner!" I said sticking smiling ear to ear. Heather only gasped and jokingly slapped me on my arm as she laughed with me.

We leaned back on the couch together, Heather then sighed as she rested her head on my shoulder. Leaving her half-eaten abomination on the box. I wrapped my arm around her and rested my head-on top of hers and sighed in happy contentment. The sun was beginning to set as it did lights were starting to turn on in this distance.

"Heather." I nudged her beside me.

"Hmm?"

"Look." I nodded towards the windows of our apartment.

"Oh wow!" Heather said in amazement as she got up and walked towards the window. I got up and followed her. With each passing second, as the sun began to set slowly in the horizon, a new light would turn on in different building across the city.

"I've always wanted this…" I said in a light whisper. But Heather didn't say anything, she only reached over and held my paw, which was enough, as we watched the sun disappear past the buildings.

"I love you, nick."

"I love you too, Heather." I said softly as I wrapped my arm around her, she then rested her head on my shoulder as we watched the rest of the sun set and its glow start to fade away.

"Nick?" Heather asked softly, not looking up at me.

"Yeah?"

"I've wanted to ask you something for a long time but I've been to afraid to, since we've both been so busy and trying hard to make our relationship work. But now that we're finally living together I think this is the best time to ask…"

"Ask what, Heather?" I asked as I turned to face her.

"What do you think of…having kits?" Heather asked as she looked up at me.

"Y-you want to have kits?" I asked astonished.

"I've wanted them for a long time and I think we're ready!"

I let go of Heather and walked towards the centre of the room, running my paw through the fur on my head. I'm not going to lie, the thoughts of having kits was not an unfamiliar thought but it was something that often terrified me. I turned to look at Heather who was gazing at me with hopeful eyes.

"Heather…" I said softly, trying to wrap my head around what she was asking for. But I couldn't get a word out before she stiffened her back and look down at the floor.

"You know, just forget what I said." She then walked towards the bedroom.

"Heather." I said softly as I reached out to her.

"Just, don't Nick. Just forget about it all." she said in an upset tone as she turned back and went into the bedroom, slamming the door behind her.

I sighed as I made my way to the door and putting my ear on it. It was muffled but I could hear Heather crying. I had no idea that having a kit was so important to her. I looked down at the ground, trying to think what I could or should do. It's not that I didn't want to have a kit, despite how the thought made me nervous, I did want one at some time in my life. Was I ready to admit that now was the time, honestly, I wasn't sure. I turned the doorknob to the bedroom and walked over to Heather who was still crying but calming down nonetheless.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be rude to you, Nick. I know why you would be hesitant to having a kit." Heather said as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

As I said, Heather and I grew up together, she has seen everything I've been through. Every comment, every glare, she watched me get beaten up just for walking down the street, all just for being a fox. Of course, times had changed but the last thing I would ever want for my son or daughter would be for them to grow up in a place that hated and shunned them.

I leaned over and wrapped my arms around Heather, who was sniffling but no longer crying.

"I think we're ready too." I said softly. Heathers eyes widened, filled with excitement, as she looked up at me.

"R-Really?" she asked excitedly. I nodded with a small smile, which was both happy but behind it I was beyond scared.

"On one condition, I think we should both get checked out, make sure we're healthy. Better be safe than sorry."

"Of course, Oh my god Nick!" Heather screamed as she Jumped on top of me, hugging me tightly, that's when I knew for sure that I was making the right choice but a small voice in the back of my mind told me that I was making a mistake…

(A few days later)

It didn't take us more than a few days to get everything unpacked and organized, luckily, we had the whole weekend to take care of it all. By the time, I went back to the ZPD Heather had already called the doctor and booked an appointment for the two of us that day, I don't think I had ever been more anxious to go to the doctors in my life. Even Judy could tell something was up. We were on our lunch, when she turned to me and asked firmly…

"Nick, what's wrong?"

"Nothing." I said shrugging my shoulders and taking a bite out of the sandwich I had packed myself for lunch.

"You're a horrible liar."

"If that was true, you wouldn't have fallen for my hustle."

"That was before I knew you and started to work with you. Now seriously, what's wrong? You haven't been yourself all day and it's starting to worry me."

I only sighed, I knew Judy would keep bugging me until I told her the truth.

"Heather and I have decided to have kits." I stated unenthusiastic.

"Nick that's great!" Judy exclaimed excitedly as her ears bolded up and her hands went to her mouth to cover the little squeals.

"Yea, Heathers really excited for it." Judy's excitement lessened and she gave me a troubled look.

"What about you?" She asked, her eyes keeping the same look.

"I am, too." I said trying hard to muster any type of energy but to no luck.

"Nick…" Judy said to me, tilting her head and only glaring at me. I sighed again.

"I'm terrified."

"Why?" Judy asked, now sitting up and much more intrigued than before.

"A few reasons, I'm worried how they will grow up, will they follow in my footsteps before I became a cop. Will they be hated by society? Will…" I took a deep breath "Will I be the same type of father as mine?"

Judy didn't say anything, what could she say? She had no idea what it was like growing up the way I did. In a world that people only saw you in one way, where no matter how hard you tried to fit in as a cub you were always an outcast. Or even having a father walk out on you and your mom because he never even wanted you, his last words before walking out of the door being "You were nothing more than a mistake." I know as a person I'm nothing like him but being a parent is so much different than being a person, heck if anything it's worse!

Judy put her paw on my shoulder and looked at me, her eyes showing concern and worry but with a mixture of acceptance and understanding.

"Nick, listen to me. I know you, I know what type of a person you are and I've seen you around kids even my own siblings. You will be a great father, but you must be sure this is something you want. It's a big life choice and a big step in your relationship with Heather. Only go through with it if you're ready.

"Thanks Carrots." I said looking over at her and smiling lightly.

"So! What's next then? Is Heather…"

"No, heh, no not yet. Were heading to the doctors when I'm done my shift today, just to make sure everything is okay."

"Well I better be one of the first people you tell if it happens!"

"I'll call you right after everything, does that work?" I said laughing with Judy, the rest of the day sped past and was relatively uneventful. A few mammals going past the speed limit, a few not stopping for a stop sign. Yet, even though I was doing my job and trying to stay focused on the task at hand, I often found myself drifting off into an internal debate with myself. After the talk with Judy I realized, more so than I already had, that I did have a choice in this and if I didn't want to go through with this I didn't have to and more than once I thought about telling Heather that I wasn't ready, but then it occurred to me that my fears about being like my father, not being ready, have already been debunked more than once. I mean let's state the obvious, I'm talking to my girlfriend about having a kit, I am good with kids as well, Judy's siblings seem to love me and the kids I see when I'm on patrol think it's pretty cool that a fox is a cop, which could be taken in two ways! That was another big thing, I was a cop. I was the first fox cop, I'm doing something that others would consider pointless and idiotic. By the time, we had finished our patrol I had come to my conclusion; I was ready, we were ready for this, we just had to tackle any obstacles that would come our way! It wasn't until the end of my shift that my heart started to pound and I could feel myself get anxious again, especially when I pulled into the parking lot of the hospital with Heather who looked much more level headed than me.

"Alright, this is it." Heather declared as I put the car in park and turned it off.

"Yea I guess so." Heather leaned over and kissed me softly on my cheek.

"Nick, listen. If you're having second thoughts about this just tell me, I want us to go through with all of this ready and wanting to do this."

"I'm not having any second thoughts about this Heather. I thought a lot about it at work and I think it's the right choice for us. We're ready for this." I said smiling at her.

Heather then leaned over and hugged me tightly, I wrapped my arms around her and hugged her as well. I'm not going to lie, I was still nervous about doing this but I knew one thing for certain; I loved Heather, and sometimes love persuades you to do things you normally wouldn't do. When we made it to the receptions desk I looked around the office, it was relatively empty except for an older rabbit who was reading the paper, who coughed once or twice before turning the page.

"Hi! How can I assist you?" The young cheetah asked Heather, who made it to the desk before I did.

"Hi, I booked an appointment with Dr. Mainson, for Nick Wilde and Heather Minrow."

"Alrighty let me take a quick looksee here, yup here you are, the parents to be." The cheetah said with a smile.

"Well, hopefully." Heather said with a laugh.

"The doctor will be out in a moment, if you want to have a seat."

Heather and I sat down only a few meters from the desk. I then looked over at Heather who had her eyes closed and was breathing deeper than normal. I reached over and put my paw on her leg which startled her slightly.

"Hey, you okay?" I asked, concerned.

"Yea, I'm just… Nick what if something's wrong?"

"Nothing will be wrong." I said rubbing her leg, trying to comfort her. "Even if there is, we will find a way to work around it, we will always find a way."

"You promise?"

"I promise." I said while holding Heathers paw. I kissed it softly, which seemed to ease her breathing and her overall stress.

It didn't take long until the same receptionist called us up and told us to follow her to the room where the doctor would see us. It was getting late, I was surprised Heather was even able to get us in today at all, most of the doctors were done for the day or with their last patient. Which meant the office was fairly silent, it gave a sort of creepy atmosphere, at least it would be if the lights were broken and the office was darker. When we got to the office which was labelled 'Dr. T. Mainson PhD" the receptionist welcomed us in and once again informed us that the doctor would be in shortly.

"Thank you, miss." I said turning to look at her. She smiled at me as she closed the door.

The room was like any other doctor's office I had been in, it had pictures of different mammals and their anatomy. A desk and computer with a screen saver dancing along the screen, an examination table, and a few medical tools hanging on the wall. I walked over and grabbed the first tool I could, which was a thick black cylinder with a small magnifying glass on the end.

"Hey Heather!" I said turning to face her. She looked up at me from the chair she was sitting on "Wanna play doctor?" I said holding the tool up to my face. Heather let out a little snorted laugh.

"Really, Nick?" she said giggling.

"Like I would do anything else given the opportunity." Right as I said that, the door handle jiggled and I rushed to put the tool on the desk beside me, I then leaned against the desk acting as nonchalant as I could.

"Good evening, Mr. Wilde, Ms. Minrow. Sorry for running a bit late, it's been a long day." The mongoose said as he walked to his desk.

"It's okay, Doctor, thank you for seeing us so soon." Heather said as she recovered from my joke.

"So, just for my understanding, you two are looking to check if you can have children is that correct?"

"That's right, doc. Just want to make sure everything is okay, no medical risks or anything." I said as I sat down beside Heather.

"I understand, very smart of the two of you. So, Mr. Wilde I'll be the one conducting your tests while, Ms. Minrow, your test will be done by my nurse, if you will just wait outside for her she won't be long."

"Of course, I'll see you in the waiting room." Heather said as she got up rubbed her hand across my shoulder and walked out of the room.

"Alrighty Mr. Wilde, were going to conduct some simple and basic tests and then from there the lab will process it and we should have the results by tonight, if you and Ms. Minrow are okay to wait?" the doctor said as he turned from his chair to face me.

"Yes, yes that would be great!" I said happily, I was relieved that we would know the results of the test sooner rather than later and I was positive Heather would agree.

For the next twenty minutes the doctor had run every test I could think of, even some I didn't want to think of and those were just the physical tests! He took my blood along with others tests, I guess to make sure I was okay to say the least. Overall it was easy, I was just hoping that nothing would be off. My thoughts then went to Heather, for I was hoping her tests weren't any worse than mine. The doctor assured me that she would be alright but I was still worried. This felt like something we should be together for, which sounds a lot more invasive than I intended!

After my tests, the doctor said I was okay to wait out in the waiting room for Heather, then from there he would process the tests and come fetch us when he was ready. I nodded, thanked him and shook his hand as I left his office. Heather came out a few minutes after me, she was walking a little strange and I could hear her growl under her breath. I went to go comfort her but she only looked up at me with hard eyes.

"Nick, I swear to god if you touch me I will break your hands!" I retracted my hands in an instant.

"Tests were that bad, eh?" I said with a light smile, but that only made her growl more. I had decided that it was best if I left her to recover for a but before I bugged her any more.

It took her some time until she could sit down and not be so uncomfortable, the nurse also brought out some pain medication which helped Heather, at least she didn't look like she wanted to bite my head off just as soon as look at me. Soon enough she was sound asleep, resting her head on my shoulder and breathing softly. I couldn't help but feel the need to drift off as well, but just as I began to rest my head on top of Heathers the doctor came out of the hall and called our names. I nudged Heather which woke her up quicker than I imagined.

"Your…your tests are back. We need to talk." The doctor said as he guided us back to his office. I was to tired to fully grasp the nature of his comment and tone of voice, which I'm rather grateful for. When we walked back to his office he closed the door behind him and let out a sigh.

"Please, have a seat, there's a great deal that we need to discuss."

Heather and I looked at each other and sat down in the same seats as before. She reached over and grabbed my hand and squeezed firmly.

"What is it doctor?" I asked softly.

"There's no easy way to say this…I'm sorry but, Ms. Minrow you can't have children."

"W-What?" Heather asked in a whisper.

"When your tests went through I ran them twice more to be certain but they all came back saying the same, you're infertile…"

Heather let out a light gasp and I could see tears start to form in her eyes. I looked down at the floor, it took me a second to come to a full realization, Heather by that point was crying in her hands. The doctor reached over and handed us a box of tissues, which I thanked him for.

"Have you two considered adoption?" The doctor suggested in a friendly manner. Heather nodded as she blew her nose.

"I, uh, I considered it not that long ago. For predators, it's much more complex compared to prey. Having a biological child seemed like our only option."

"I see, what about a donor? Someone who could carry it to term?" The doctor suggested once again.

"I'm an only child, Heather only siblings are boys and neither one of us are in contact with anyone else who would be willing to do that for us." I said as I tried to comfort Heather but she was still trying to think of the whole situation.

The doctor then flipped through his notes, he then let out a sigh that made me look up at him in anticipation. My reaction made Heather look up as well in confusion and equal curiosity.

"There…may be a way, I'm not going to lie it's a trial and it has a lot of medical risks…"

"What is it?" Heather asked.

The doctor then proceeded to explain a new experiment that could, in theory carry a child, the only problem is that it would need a healthy host and to be genetically correct. He explained how it would work, what he would need from us, and he listed all the risks that could happen if the tests were to fail or if something were to happen to me. As he kept listing everything that would happen I started to be a bit amazed but also horrified, I mean this was something that no one had ever done before, there would be no way to compare results or anything like that.

"Long to short the roles would be revered." The doctor said as he sat back in his chair.

"So, Nick would be…"

"Yes. I understand this isn't a normal circumstance and I'm sure this isn't something you expected to hear when you came in today, but this is the only way to have a biological child."

"Well…I-I'd have to think about it." I said now trying to figure out what to do.

"What's there to think about?! We could have our own child, that's what we wanted!" Heather snapped at me.

"Yeah, but this is a lot different, this…"

"This is you being selfish!"

"Being selfish?!" I asked in astonishment. "Considering to put myself at risk and still having a difficult time to wrapped my head around it is being selfish?!"

"This is something I think you two need to consider and think about before you make any final decisions, it is a big life choice." He reached into his back pocket and handed me a card. "Whatever your decision is, just call me and we will arrange everything. I can also promise that, for this type of a test, the government will pay you."

"Thank you." Was all I could say.

I mean what more could I say, this wasn't exactly what I had expected when I suggested we go to the doctor…The car ride home was met in absolute silence. Neither one of us could think of anything to say to one another, what could we say at this point? By the time, we got home and walked into the apartment we were both exhausted and upset with one another. We didn't talk to one another while we undressed and got ready for bed, we only turned the lights off and tried to drift off to sleep…but I couldn't. I had too much on my mind that I couldn't just push it all aside. I sat in my bed for more than an hour trying to get comfortable or try to forget about today completely but I couldn't. I then sat up and looked over at Heather who was sleeping soundly. I had to ask myself, "Was this something I was willing to do, do for Heather, for us?" I didn't hesitate when I grabbed my pants and grabbed the card from by back pocket and went into the living room, trying hard to not wake Heather. I dialed the number into my phone and listened to the ringing, my mind was racing and my heart was pounding. Thoughts bolted around my mind and i constantly found myself thinking "This is for you and Heather". Everything stopped when someone picked up on the other end of the phone.

"Doctor Mainson speaking." I took a deep breath.

"Doctor, it's Nick Wilde. I'll do it."

 


	2. A Choice for Love (Pov Nick Wilde)

_Now when dad told “Mom” about his choice he sacrificed a lot of things and did it for the goal of starting a family of his own, something he had always wanted but never told anyone. If doing this was his only way of seeing that dream come true, then nothing was going to stand in his way! Especially if he was doing all of this for the woman he loved and whom had sure loved him…_

  
“YOU SAID WHAT?!” Heather yelled at the top of her lung which scared me, and probably the neighbours.

  
“I said yes to the operation! Why are you acting like this?! You’re the one who said I shouldn’t be selfish!” I said defensively, as I watched Heather pace the open floor of our living room.

  
“Yes, but that doesn’t mean make a choice like this without talking to me!”

  
“You didn’t seem too keen on talking last night.” I said shoving my hands in my pockets as I leaned on the window.  
Needless to say, after I had called the doctor last night, and had a long discussion with him, more technicalities than anything else, I figured it would be best if I slept on the couch. It was late, I didn’t want to wake Heather or have her worry about anything just yet. Well I didn’t think about what would happen when she woke up and noticed me sleeping on the couch. That alone raised a few questions, some of which were more over-reactive than the others but in the end, it came down to two basic questions;  
“Why were you asleep on the couch?”  
And  
“Why do you have your phone with you?”

  
I guess telling her I was talking to a “vixen of the night” is not, in any way, a good answer! That argument alone lasted thirty minutes and primarily consisted of her telling me that jokes like that aren’t funny, which I beg to differ! But, all of this was way before she had her first cup of coffee, I should have known better than to try and make her laugh before that, she’s usually up way before me so I don’t often have to worry! But after my hopeful joke and a rather serious scowl I told her I called the doctor and that I had come to my final decision, that I would do the operation and… carry the kit. The thought alone was still foreign in my mind, but it had only been a few hours since I had called, that could have been why Heather was not overly happy. Regardless her reaction was still a complete surprise, I had hoped that she would be more understanding and accepting of my choice but I guess, for right now, that wasn’t the case.

  
“So, what? You’re just going to go through with it? No second thoughts or anything?” Heather said as she came to a stop in front of me, crossing her arms and looking at me like I was the biggest idiot in the world.

  
“I never said I wouldn’t have second thoughts, Heather. I just said that I called the doctor and said yes to the surgery.  
“And what, you’re just okay with being pregnant?!” Heather yelled, once more. At this point I was internally giggling, I had no doubt the neighbours would be wondering what in the world we were talking about, hearing that ought to give them something to talk about later.

  
“Yea just yell it out so the whole floor can hear you, sweetheart, that’s subtle.” I said with a sigh as I walked over to the kitchen to make myself a cup of coffee and to try and calm my head.

  
“What now I can’t express my emotions in my own house?”

  
“Well, apartment, really.” I said, not turning around to her but still grinning slyly.

  
“Really? Still cracking jokes, Nick?”

  
“What else would I do?” I sighed as I turned to face her, the empty cup in my paw.

  
“Oh, I don’t know, try to actually take this whole situation seriously?!”

  
“Seriously?” My eyes widened as I say the cup down on the counter and walked out of the kitchen and into the living room.  
“You think I haven’t been taking this whole situation seriously?!” I snapped back at her “Do you know what I thought when I dialed that number or when I said yes? Do you?” I said sternly as I walked towards her. When she didn’t bother to respond and only looked down I continued my rant.

  
“I thought to myself, this is for Heather and I. This is for us…” I said stopping a few meters from Heather, I could feel the anger leave and only get replaced by hope and love for her.  
“That’s why I said yes, because it’s the only way we can start something we both want…right?” I took a step closer to Heather, who had her arms crossed in a more closed in manner than before.

“Heather, I’m not going lie or joke with you anymore, well at least right now.” When she grinned a little bit, I went on “I’m scared, scared about doing this. I have no idea what I’m doing. What I do know is I love you and I want us to be more than what we are…”

Heather looked over at me, her once angry and over all frustrated eyes were now like mine; soft, caring, full of love and the goal for happiness.

  
“You are my only family. You are my best friend and above all you are the girl I want to start a family with. Please.” I reached out and lightly grabbed her paws, her violet eyes looked at me with such passion that I remembered why I fell in love with her. “Please let me do this…For us.”

  
Heather looked at me, I could tell she was skeptical with the whole idea behind it but in the end, she knew that this wasn’t an argument, this wasn’t a fight, this was a decision that I had made. She was only voicing her concerns for me, once she seen how much this means to me she her attitude and outlook changed. This might have looked like a quick decision I knew right away that I would do anything if it meant making her happy.

  
“Okay,” Heather said with a sigh of relief. “If you are sure you want to do this, I'll be right behind you, all the way Nick. Through thick and thin, I'll always be by your side…”

  
_Love, as I said, can make you do thing you normally would never consider. It can make you say things, feel things, which aren’t really there. In the case of my dad and “Mom” that’s exactly what it was. See my dad loved her to no ends and was willing to go above and beyond for her, but a lot of people who met them had to ask, would she do the same thing for him? Dad refused to see the obvious and continued to love her the way he always had. Right after “mom” had said yes dad hopped right on it and called the doctor back right away, informing them that they were ready. To their surprise so was the doctor, it appeared that a test/experiment like me was a much anticipated and excited situation. The doctor told them that he could, if they wanted to, start the experiment right away. Dad, of course, said yes speaking for the both of them. “Mom” on the other hand was not as enthusiastic but she didn’t say anything, which to some, could say that’s why everything happened the way it did, but what those people don’t know is she didn’t say anything because the sooner they started the tests the sooner she would get the rewards. It wasn’t until they got to the hospital did things start to happen that, even Dad, couldn’t ignore…_

The drive to the hospital was something like out of one of those chick flick Heather always makes me watch! Her and I were smiling, laughing, joking and over all enjoying our time together. We were finally about to do something either one of us only dreamed of doing, starting a family. Of course, this was obviously a special type of circumstance, special in the sense of something from a Sci-fi fiction novel. I didn’t show or tell Heather but I was still nervous about the whole thing, and as we got closer to the hospital my nerves heightened and my heart beat faster, but I kept a cool head. Yet, despite my nerves acting up, I was still more sure about this than I was when I joined the ZPD.

  
“So.” Heather blurted out as she looked over at me, her eyes were filled with love and happiness, just like always. “Names?”

  
“Huh?”

  
“Names, Nicky! What would you name our kit?”

  
“Oh, um I don’t know.” I chuckled, to be honest I was going through with this without an overall preference on gender or even a name! You can see how prepared I was.

  
“Well if it’s a boy I’m thinking Henry.” Heather declared proudly.

  
“After your dad?”

  
“Yup, and if it’s a girl then- “

  
“Let me guess, Rose, after your mom?” I grinned slyly as I glanced over at Heather.

  
“Am I that predictable?”

  
“Just a little bit.” I said chuckling.

  
“Well then what about you?”

  
“I told you I’m not sure! Shoot some out and I'll say if I like them or not. Unlike you I don’t have anyone to name our kit after.” I suggested as I kept my eyes on the road

  
“You know I’m going to keep bugging you until you give me an answer and “I’m not sure” isn’t an answer.”

  
“Holy! Okay, fine! Amy!”

  
“Ehh…” Heather said with a disgusted look on her face.

  
“What? But you said pick a name?” I said minorly frustrated.

  
“Yeah but you just picked that name because you had to.” Heather said with a purposely happy grin from ear to ear.

  
“Because you asked me to!”

  
“You gotta like the name though…”

  
I only groaned in disbelief and a little bit of annoyance. For the rest of the ride to the hospital I kept suggesting names to Heather, who consistently judged and criticized each and every one of them. It only appeared that she would like the names that she picked out, her parents, who I secretly disliked to a high extent. They, on more than one occasion, called the police on me no reason what so ever other than trying to see Heather. The ironic thing was I wasn’t even breaking the law, I'd just go knock on her door then the next things I know the ZPD has me in cuffs. They never liked the thought of their daughter hanging out with a street hustler like me, even though she was just as bad as I was! So, when she suggested them as the name for our future son or daughter I was, in no way excited or wanting to jump on that. However, that didn’t matter to Heather. In the end if she wanted to name our kids that I guess I wouldn’t have much say in it. Besides, Rose Wilde doesn’t sound too bad.  
Heather kept on talking about “how great of a mother she would be” and how much she “adores” the names Henry and Rose. During all of this, not once did she ask for my opinion on the situation or thoughts on any of the names. Heck she didn’t ask if I thought I would be a good father or not, which I didn’t really want to talk about but the suggestion would’ve been nice. I couldn’t get a word in if I tried, it was a little frustrating but this was a stressful time for the both of us, if it helped her to keep on talking then who was I to say anything. She kept talking all the way until we reached the entrance of the hospital, by now I was ready to hit my head off the steering wheel, I can only handle so much talk about her parents, kit names, and overall narcissism! I was able to park in the surgical parking area, the spots where patients who are undergoing surgery can park for an excess time. The doctor told me that I’d probably be there for at least seven days so make sure I pack a suitcase! I knew Heather wouldn’t stay long, she had school to worry about.  
I dragged the suitcase out from the back of my car as Heather got out and stared blankly at the hospital, primarily gazing at its overall height which, though smaller than our apartments height, was still large. The sign outside read Zootopia Family Hospital. I couldn’t help but chuckle at the sign as I read the word ‘family’, but Heather was still looking up at the large building.

  
“Hey, you okay?” I asked, touching her shoulder.

  
“Yea…yea I’m fine. Just getting myself prepared.” Heather responded as she lightly touched my hand.

  
“For? You’re not the one who’s getting cut open for some experiment! Hell, for all I know they’re only going to harvest what good parts they can!” I said in false horror in an attempt to make her smile, which thankfully worked. Heather grinned and giggled as she looked back at the hospital.

  
“Or, I wonder if I tip the doctor, if he’ll give me a little perk.” I said as I winked at Heather. She let out a light snorted laugh, but I looked back at her horrified “Madam get your mind out of the gutter, I was talking about-”

  
“Nick Wilde?” a voice called from the hospital. I turned to look over at the entrance, Dr. Mainson stood there raising his paw briefly to acknowledge us. Heather and I raised our paws to acknowledge him as well. I turned and smiled slyly at Heather who was still chuckling but hiding it behind her paw. The Doctor held the door open for us as we walked in, both our minds were racing, and I for one was beyond terrified for this. But behind my fears and worries, stood a sense of pride and happiness. I knew what I was doing was beyond right, I just hoped Heather thought the same thing.

  
“I was quite happy when you responded, Mr. Wilde” the doctor said as we followed him to my hospital room. “You must understand that this is a great moment, not just for you two but for the whole scientific and medical community!”

  
The doctor said as he was looking through his form. It was beyond obvious that he was very excited for this whole situation. I didn’t blame him. I was a little excited as well, I only let out a light chuckle as we walked down the hall of the Hospital.

  
“Trust me doc, we're quite excited and beyond grateful to be given this chance!”

  
“I don’t mean to sound rude or one tracked, doctor, but when can we expect a payment for this? It's not like Nick is walking into this risk free.”

  
I looked over to Heather in absolute embarrassment. My eyes went narrow and I mouthed “Really?” to her. She only shrugged her shoulders then turned her attention back to the doctor who had stopped flipping through his noted and glanced back at us. I had almost forgotten about the doctors offer of payment, I had been so focused on going through with this procedure that it hadn’t crossed my mind. It was nice to see that Heather cared about my well being above anything else. That was sarcasm by the way!  
The doctor cleared his throat as he tucked his notes and his clipboard under his arm and sighed. I don’t think embarrassed covered exactly how I felt when she asked that. I knew what risks I was walking into, I wanted to do it just for us. I didn’t care about the money, which surprised me to say the least, all I wanted was for us to be happy.

  
“The payment will be sent to you after we confirm the surgery has been a success.” The doctor said in a monotone voice.

  
“Hmm, okay.” Heather said, not looking at the doctor but past him at the hall ahead.

  
I didn’t say anything, we only walked in silence until we reached the room, which was in the Pred Wing B. I guess because I was a bit bigger than other preds but not big enough to be able to fit in a bear’s bed. The doctor opened it and let us walk in. It was a pretty standard room, one bed pressed against the right center side of the room which looked like it would suit me perfectly. There was also a nightstand beside my bed, a small chair, a dresser on the other end, a small washroom by the looks of it and a closed window opposite from the door.

  
“You can put your belongings in the dressers. There is a gown in the washroom, I'll just need you to put it on so we can send you in.” The doctor said smiling at us. “I'll be back in ten minutes.” He tapped on his watch as he left the room and closed the door behind him.

  
I looked over at Heather who was admiring the room, checking out the dressers and the bed. I lonely looked over at her, trying to keep the frustration and embarrassment away from my face but I couldn’t keep it inside.

  
“What the heck was that?” I asked in a dry tone.

  
“What?” Heather asked, genuinely confused.

  
“What? What! What was the deal with you asking the doctor for the payment?!” I snapped at her, but she didn’t even bat an eye.

  
“Well it's not like you were going to ask.” She stated, trying to make it sound like that made it any better.

  
“I wasn’t going to! I was happy with the fact that we were given the chance to have our own kit! Hasn’t it dawned on you that we are not paying anything to have this done?”

  
“Your point? It's still a risk to your health, we should be compensated for taking a risk.”

  
“WE?! We, should be compensated?! Last I check they’re not hacking into you with knives and power tools!”

  
“I don’t think they do that.”

  
“Don’t correct me, Heather, you know what I mean!” I took a deep breath and shut my eyes “I think you should just wait in the hall while I get ready.”

  
“Fine.” Heather said standing up from the bed. “Just don’t forget whose genes they’re putting in.”

  
She slammed the door behind her, leaving me alone in the room, only filled with my annoyed thoughts towards her. But what could I do, I loved her. The only reason I felt this way was due to the impending stress and obvious life changing event that was about to happen. I didn’t hate her, I was a little upset that she asked for the money without even talking to me first but I guess she’s stressed to and not thinking clearly. That’s at least what I wanted to tell myself…  
Once the time was up and I was in my gown the doctor knocked on my door, which I promptly shouted for him and his nurse to come in. When they walked in they were dragging an I.V drip along with a few other small things to attach me to. Heather walked in after them, holding her arms tight to her. I figured she was still a little upset but my thoughts changed when she watched the nurse put the needle into my paw and the doctor start reading over the procedure and the medical risks.

  
“Once its planted we will have you stay so we can keep track of everything. On a rough estimate, it should only take a week, maybe longer if there are any complications but we doubt that will be the case.”

  
“Well I called in for it so no problem for me.” I said smiling as Heather grabbed the paw that didn’t have a needle stuck in it.

  
“I'll see you in a little bit, okay?” Heather said as she bent down and kissed me softly on my cheek. “I love you.”

  
“I love you too, Heather.” I said as I squeezed her paw.

  
“Alright Nick, I’m going to give you the anesthesia, I’m going to get you to count down from ten for me.”

  
“Oh! I’ve always wanted to try and fight it!”

  
“And start.” The nurse said as she stood back and smiled, I’m guessing this was something a lot of her patients have said.

  
“10, 9, 8…7…….4……5……3……2…………1…………”

  
“Night Nicky…” was the last thing I heard before I welcomed, or really became victim to, the sleep which I didn’t have a choice over. My last thoughts rang in my head for only a brief second “Heather…”

 


	3. True Colours (Pov Nick Wilde)

I will be the first to admit that no one is this world is perfect, I am certainly no exception to this statement, but there are some people who go above and beyond to prove this declaration. Now I try to give people the benefit of the doubt, always approach the world with an open mind and positive perspectives but there are some cases where I cannot extend that type of courtesy to others. This is always apparent when I think of Heather, or in a more politically correct word, “Mom” but she is and was no mother to me in any sense of the title. If anything, I can’t help but almost hate using this word but, I loath the girl. Dad doesn’t like to talk about her, he refuses to say anything bad about her and Mom won't say anything either so most of what I know comes from family friends who’ve told me a few things here and there. I’ve heard enough and…have seen enough to form my own opinions on her. But every time I think about her I can’t help but wonder what Dad could have seen in her or why they stayed together for so long…

  
People say that when they get put under they don’t dream, it's just a quick darkness then ‘BAM!’ your done and awake. it didn’t feel like that for me though. Don’t get me wrong it was quick, it only felt like a minute but when I came to I didn’t open my eyes though I knew I was conscious. I kept them closed, trying to control the new-found pain in my lower stomach and in my head. But above all I just wanted to sleep, yet I wasn’t tired at all. I just wanted the time to think about what just happened and what I had initially done. After a minute, I started to remember where I was and what I had just gone through.

  
“Oh, my god…” I thought to myself as the rest of my senses slowly came back and the pain in my head worsened with every second. I had almost wished that I would die just so this pain would go away, but in all reality, it was only an annoyance, it still bugged the heck out of me none the less.  
I groaned as I tried to rub my head with my paw but stopped when I felt a sharp pain in my left arm which made me wince in pain.

  
“Doctor, I think he’s coming to!” a voice said. It was muffled and I couldn’t tell exactly where it was coming from. My ears rang slightly, which didn’t help my headache or my continuous confusion.

  
“Nicholas, can you hear me?” another voice said. This one a bit deeper than the last, a man probably, but it was still muffled.

  
“W-what?” I slurred trying to still make sense of the whole situation, or at least wrap my mind around it.

  
“Hey, Hey Nicky, I’m right here!” a soft voice came beside me as the person clutched my paw tightly. I didn’t have to guess who that was.

  
“Heather?” I said groggily. She chuckled lightly as I slowly moved my paw up to meet the side of her face, brushing her fur softly.

  
“Yes, its me. How do you feel?”

  
“Like the witch when the house dropped on her.” Heather chuckled but I could tell she was close to tears, even when I started to open my eyes and looked into her beautiful violet eyes could I tell how emotional she was. Happy, worried, sad, scared, but above all her eyes shined with pride and joy when she looked down at me.

  
“How do you feel Nick?” A voice asked beside me. I turned around, my eyes still adjusting to the brightness of the room, but by the blurry outline I assumed it was the doctor asking me.

  
“Pained and rather uncomfortable other than that, I’m peachy.” I said sinking my head back into the pillow.

  
“Yes, that is to be expected, it should pass soon. Do you have any sharp pain in your lower stomach? Perhaps something ripping?” My ears bolted up at the word ‘ripping’ and my eyes widened fast as I quickly looked over at him.

  
“Ripping?!” I asked panicked. “What would rip?!”

  
“Your stitches. I’m pretty good with my hands but accidents happen.”

  
“Stitches?” I asked dumbfounded. I then pulled my gown to the side and looked down at my stomach. There was a large bald strip right across my stomach with a large dark line down the middle and thread running along that.  
“Sweet Cheese and crackers…” mumbled to myself. Heather stood over top of me sharing the same expression of shock on her face as I did mine.

  
“How long will he need them in?” Heather asked placing her paw on my shoulder.

  
“At least a month or so. But don’t worry i'll tell you all of that much later. The main reason I wanted to see you, other than making sure you were okay, was to tell you that the surgery was an absolute success! Your genetics bonded perfectly and took right away! From here it’s a matter of waiting and monitoring everything to make sure you will be fine.”

  
I nodded at him as I reached over with my free hand, the one that didn’t have three different needles in it, and rested it on Heathers.

  
“Thank you, Doctor.” I said contently as I looked over and smiled at him. He nodded once before he signalled for the nurse to follow him.

  
“We will be back later to run some basic tests, nothing to invasive.”

  
“I doubt you could get more invasive than this, Doc.” I said with a pained chuckle as they walked out of the room. Just as the door was closing there was a slight commotion outside the room, someone quickly yelled.

  
“Hey! You can’t go in there!”

  
“Don’t touch me! That’s my partner in there! I have every right to know if he’s okay!”

  
“Is that?” I said quietly as I looked up at Heather, who was staring at the door. Not even a second later Judy pushed the door open and closed it behind her, straightening her uniform as she walked in. She looked up at us in a quick shock and relief.

  
“Nick, oh thank god!” Judy said as she quickly ran to the side of my bed. “I was worried sick! What are you doing here are you okay?”

  
“Carrots?” I reached down and hugged her quickly as I smiled. I was beyond surprised to see her which added to my curiosity. “How did you know where I was?”

  
“When you didn’t show up for your shift I went to your place to look for you. Your neighbours told me you and…Heather.” She said looking up with a light defensive glare that met with Heather's silent stare “were arguing the night before, something about a surgery. Nick what happened?”

  
“Huh, so they could hear us.” I thought stupidly to myself.  
“Its nothing Carrots, the docs just-“

  
“What does it matter to you?” Heather said monotonically. Judy only looked up at her with a look that I had not seen. It was a mixture of dislike and defensiveness.

  
“He’s my partner and my friend. I’m just making sure that he’s alright.”

  
“And I’m his girlfriend, I don’t see why you need to bother us. He’s fine, you can go now.”

  
“Heather!” I snapped softly looking back at her.

  
“What? I’m not wrong. Our lives don’t need to be bothered by some wannabe cop who broke the city.”

  
Judy’s eyes widened with pain as her ears flew down and her nose began to twitch.

  
“Heather that’s enough!” I snapped, feeling a light pain in my stomach. I grunted in pain as I tried to lie back down. “Could you go get me some water, please heather?” I asked softly.

  
“Sure, Nick.” Heather said keeping her eyes on Judy who was doing the same. She walked past Judy, lightly flicking her tail in Judy’s face, to which I’m sure she hoped I wouldn’t see.

  
“Sorry about that, Heather can be-“

  
“A bully?” Judy blurted out as she watched the door close.

  
“Protective. Was what I was going to say.” Judy walked to the edge of my bed and sat down by my feet.

  
“Nick, what are you doing here?” Judy asked as she put one of her paws on my leg.

  
I only sighed, what could I honestly tell her? The truth? Yea that would work out well, she was my only true friend, besides Heather and Finnick. On top of that we work together, partners, she can’t just push that aside and still work with me. No… It was better to lie to her than to tell her the whole situation.

  
“The docs just found something that needed to be taken out, nothing major, that’s why I didn’t tell you.”

  
“Well you could have called in at least. Bogo nearly had my tail when I told him that you weren’t in.”

  
Oh man, I had forgotten about Bogo, heck about the whole ZPD. What was I going to tell them? How could I tell them?! Ohh this just kept getting better and better…

  
“I’m sorry, Fluff, I guess I was so wrapped up I forgot to tell the Chief.” Judy only snickered.

  
“Its okay, Slick. When I tell him you were in the hospital I’m sure he’ll-“

  
“No! No, no no no! you can’t tell anyone I was here!”

  
I shouted as I bolted up which I instantly regretted. A large pain jolted from my stomach, through my side and up my back. It felt like I had been stabbed repeatedly and they left the knife in there. I gasped in pain and lowered myself back onto the pillow. I lied there, slowly gasping, trying to control the pain and holding back the tears, Judy jumped off the bed and rushed to my side, holding my paw.

  
“Nick…” She whispered.

  
“Promise me, you wont tell anyone I was here…” I said pained as I was still gasping slowly.

  
“I promise, but Nick…”  
“No buts…just keep this a secret, just for a while, please…” I said breathing more softly as the pain began to dissipate.

  
“Okay, I wont tell anyone, I promise.”

  
“Thank you, Judy…”

  
I wasn’t a huge fan of keeping this from Judy. She was my closet friend and she only wanted to make sure I was okay, but something like this… What could I tell her? If I told her the truth that could lead to the end of our friendship, if she knew I was lying to her she’d kill me. This wasn’t something I wanted to do to her, I knew after all this was said and done I would tell her, I just hope she would understand and in the end not hate me for lying to her…

  
_I can say, with a large amount of certainty, that dad despised the idea of lying to…”Judy” but his fears took the better of him. Deep down he knew that she would never judge him for anything so beautiful and above all else, brave. She knew that something was wrong, despite dad saying otherwise, but she didn’t want to pry farther in that what she had already done. All she wanted was for him to be safe and happy, at that moment he appeared to be both but something was still off and my ‘mothers’ reaction didn’t help her fear or something being wrong. Regardless, she kept her thoughts to herself until such a time that it was deemed necessary to say something.  
Now, Dad had to stay in the hospital for another week before the doctors would let him go. They constantly ran tests and put him on a diet that consisted primarily of tasteless and over all bland foods which he was not a huge fan of. He went through at least fifty different tests every six hours, and had to try and sleep for a solid eight hours each night. Try to work the math out on that, it wasn’t easy for him to say the least but he powered through until the end of his first week, that was when the doctors gave him the okay to go home…_

  
“Now you shouldn’t have any pain at least for now, please be sure to visit us weekly so that we can continue to monitor you and the initial growth, understand Mr. Wilde?”

  
“I’m sorry maybe you should say it one more time, I am a little slow.” I said with a snarky grin.

  
“Just be sure to follow the medication as prescribed and not to over work yourself, you still need time to fully recover from your surgery.” The doctor said as he walked out of the hospital with Heather and I.

  
“Well I may make him do all the major cleaning around the house, reach for the tall things, essentially make him my bi-“

  
“Thank you! Doctor.” I blurted out as I shook the doctor's paw.

  
“you’re welcome, just please take slow and easy for the next few weeks and if you go to work keep it in the office.”

  
“If you say it anymore I have no doubt I'll forget it.” The doctor chuckled as he handed Heather my bag and shook her paw as well.

  
“Good luck you two, I'll see you both next week. Call if there are any problems.”

  
“Of course, Doctor.” Heather said proudly as she shook his paw.

  
Heather helped me walk down the stairs, or to be more honest, she insisted to help me when she noticed my discomfort and pain with each step. I half expected her to take me in her arms, though that was nothing more than a half foolish thought to cover the fact that all of this was actually happening. That’s when things dawned on me a bit more. This was happening, we were starting a family. I smiled through the pain and began to feel a warming sensation in my heart as we reached the final step.

  
I was proud of myself. Heck, I was beyond happy with the choice I made. It was a life choice that I had made with a sound mind and with the girl I loved. Despite the oddity of the whole situation, my mind did not have one negative thought in all of this. Well at least not in the overall decision. In the back of my mind I was scared for what was going to come my way down the road. I have heard when Judy told me about her sister who had a kit, what she went through. But remembering what she said I only chuckled to myself as Heather and I walked to the car. If a little bunny could handle that then this would be a piece of cake. Right?

  
(Week 1)  
My first week home was rather bland. Judy was, somehow, able to convince Bogo to give me some time off. I have no idea what she said or did, she only said that I need to get well and call her if I needed anything. Besides that, I mainly took it easy, as the doctor, Judy and Heather all suggested. Heather was a bit more forceful, completely keeping me under house arrest but still wanting to help me around the house. It was nice to see that she was, for the most part, okay with this whole situation and more than willing to help. The difficult part out though was the fact that she did have school to attend and then work on top of that. She was able to work as a teaching assistant at a school a half hour from our place, she applied for the one close to us but was apparently beaten to it by other applicants. Nonetheless though, her announcement warranted a nice dinner which I had specially prepared for her when she came home. She didn’t each much, saying that she had a big lunch and was tired, but she loved the gesture.  
  
(Week 4)  
The past few weeks remained uneventful for the most part. Heather was off at school and work while I was still at home taking some time to recover. I even had Bogo and a few other colleagues from the ZPD call me to make sure I was okay. Again, I have no idea what Judy told them but Bogo insisted that I take the time to recover and come back to work when I could. That alone came as a surprise but I wasn’t one to object, though it was getting boring staying at the apartment all day, the only time I could get out was when I had an appointment with the doctor but even that was a in then out sort of thing.  
Though I was treated to a nice surprise when I heard a knock on the door. When I opened it, Judy was standing outside wearing her civilian clothes which consisted of her Jeans and a black t-shirt, which was better than my grubby shorts and dirty t-shirt.

  
“Oh, hey Carrots.” I said half surprised. As I moved out of the way, inviting her in. “What brings you here?”

  
“I haven’t heard from you in awhile, I wanted to drop by and make sure you were okay.”

  
It was true, I haven’t talked to her, I couldn’t. Not that I didn’t want to but Heather wouldn’t allow me to. After that little dispute, back in the hospital Heather basically ordered me not to talk to Judy. Despite my protest, she then stated that it was Judy or her. Which left a deep hole in my gut because Judy deserved to know everything and I owed Judy the curtesy to at least talk to her, but Heather wouldn’t have it. Heck id probably get my tail kicked just letting her in the apartment let alone talking to her, but what Heather wouldn’t know wont kill her.

  
“You look awful.” She stated with a giggle as she looked up at me.

  
My fur was all knotted and my tall was knotted up and in a giant puff. Being at home and not having to work took the need for self appearance away. Plus, it hurt like heck to shower with this cut on my chest, which was healing quite well!

  
“You look just as bad.” I said taking a good look at Judy. I only said it as a joke but then I started to notice a few things. Her usual lively eyes were tired, exhausted to be more exact. She had dark lines under her eyes and even her fur, which was much better kept than mine, was starting to look un-kept.

  
“Judy.” I said in shock as I took her chin in my paw and examined her eyes more closely, moving her head as I did. “What’s up with you? You look…terrible.”

  
Judy only chuckled as she moved my paw from her chin and brushed her fur on her head back down.

  
“I’ve been…working extra.”

  
“What? Why?” Judy looked up and smiled softly at me, it then dawned on me what she was doing. “Oh Judy…”

  
“Bogo said he’d understand but I insisted on taking the shifts.”

  
“You didn’t have to do that.” I stated as I pulled her to the couch and rushed to get her a cup of coffee.

  
“Yes, I did, were partners, its what we do.”

  
“Work ourselves to death for one another?”

  
“Wouldn’t you do the same?”

  
I stopped making and thought to myself for a second. I would. I would do anything to help Judy if she really needed it. I would do it in a second flat without a moment's hesitation. I only sighed as I poured the water from the kettle and walked over with the coffees in hand.

  
“Here.” I said handing her the cup and sitting beside her. Judy took the cup and sipped the coffee.

  
“Thank you. Probably won't do much, I’m about 75% coffee at the moment.”

  
“Well it’s the thought, right?” I said with a small laugh as I put my cup down on the table. I looked over at her, I couldn’t get over how bad she looked. I didn’t want to sound rude but she concerned me.

  
“When was the last time you had any sleep?” Judy opened her mouth to say something but I stopped her “that wasn’t on a bench in the ZPD or on or under your desk.” Her mouth shut after I said that. Judy then let out a light sigh and shrugged.

  
“Okay, you are going to sleep here then. Least for a few hours, I’m going to call Bogo and tell him you can’t come in.”

  
“Nick, you don’t need to-“

  
“Hey, you said it yourself, we’re partners, its what we do.” Judy looked up at me and smiled “Thank you.”

  
“I’m just going to grab some spare blankets and a pillow, ill only a moment.” Quickly went to the master bedroom and grabbed a soft blanket and one of my extra pillows that I may or may not have stolen from the police academy, and walked back out.

  
“It's not much but you can sleep on the…couch.” By the time I came back out Judy was already sound asleep on the couch, lightly breathing peacefully. I smiled and walked over to her, trying hard not to wake her as I draped the blanket over her and carefully lifted her so I could put the pillow under her head. I then sat down beside her and rested leaned back on the couch as I too slowly drifted off to sleep.

  
“What in the hell is this?!” a voice screeched that made me jump near out of my fur and made both me and Judy wake up.  
It was Heather, standing in the door way, jacket still on, keys in hand, and glaring over at us with a large amount of hate that I could feel it in my gut.  
“Crap…”

  
“Heather…” I said as I got up.

  
“Don’t ‘Heather’ me! What the heck is she doing in our home! I thought I told you not to talk to her!?”  
Judy looked over at me with a pained expression.

  
“So, that’s why you haven’t talked to me.” Judy stated as she sighed and pushed the blanket off. “Thank you for letting me rest. Ill see you at work.”

  
Judy then walked out of the apartment, lightly grazing Heather as she walked past. I got up walked towards Judy.

  
“Judy wait I-“

  
“Hey we're not done! Why was she here?!” Heather yelled as I watched Judy walk out and close the door behind her. Right before the door shut I noticed a small tear sliding down the fur on her cheek. I only stared blankly at the door, behind Heather.

  
“Hello? Earth to Nick!” Heather said snapping her fingers. I looked over at her, still with a blank expression on my face. “Why was she here?”

  
“She came to see if I was alright.” I said turning around to go pick up the blanket and pillow “I noticed how tired she was so I let her grab some sleep here.”

  
“Without asking me?” Heather stated in an authoritative manner.

  
“Why would I need to ask you if it's my home too?” I asked in a stern confusion.

  
“Because that’s what couples do, Nick they ask to make sure! You know I hate her why would you let her in?”

  
“Because she’s my friend and do couples really do that?” I asked turning around and glaring into her eyes “Because it mainly seems like you tell me what to do and I don’t have a say in anything else.”

  
“Don’t try and change the subject! You still went behind my back!”

  
“And helped a friend!” I yelled back, right as I did I clutched my stomach in pain, but that didn’t phase Heather.

  
“Don’t bother cleaning up that bedding, you can sleep on the couch tonight.”  
She then walked past me to the bedroom and shut the door behind her. I on the other hand ran to the bathroom and hugged the toilet for the next ten minutes. Silently crying and trying to overcome the pain in my stomach. Note to self, baby does not like coffee…  
  
(Week 6)  
I woke up in the middle of the night. I looked over at the clock on my nightstand which read in red number 2:30 am. My eyes were sore and I found myself slowly rubbing my lower stomach, though it wasn’t in any sort of pain. I had just figured I had a bad dream and woke up, though I didn’t remember dreaming good or bad. I shuffled as I pulled the covers back over my shoulder and sighed deeply as I sank my head back into the welcoming warmth of my pillow. I had started to drift back asleep when I felt my ear give a light twitch and the floor creaked at the end of the bed.  
My eyes shot back open and I reached to the lamp on my nightstand as quickly as I could, perhaps too quickly as I ended up hurting my lower stomach. I ignored the pain and turned the lamp on and turned back around to the noise in front of the bed.  
It was heather. Fully dressed with a bag in each hand, a…suitcase? I rubbed my eyes drowsily as I sat up on the bed, trying to piece together what was going on.

  
“H-Heather?” I asked tiredly “What are you doing?”  
Heather didn’t move, she only let out a soft sigh as she looked down at the ground, tightening her grip on her suitcases.

  
“I’m leaving, Nick.” Heather stated plainly, still not looking at me.

  
“Leaving? Leaving where?” I asked in confusion as I started to wake up a little more. Her silence lead me to the obvious conclusion. My eyes widened and I became at a loss for words.  
“Wait…what?” I asked in disbelief as I started to get up from the bed but heather only held on to her bags and refused to look at me.

  
“I’m leaving, Nick. I…I can’t do this.” Heather stated as her voice broke between words. “What we’re doing…what you’re doing, its not right.”

  
“What I’m doing?” I asked as I walked around the bed, befuddled by her statement. “What the heck is that supposed to mean?” I raised my voice a little which gave an uncomfortable jolt in my gut.

  
“Oh, gee I don’t know, maybe doing something that is completely unnatural!” Heather shouted, but at least she looked over at me.

  
“I did this because of how upset you were! You wanted this!”

  
“No, I wanted to be the one carrying the child so you would have to stay! Why the hell would I want any of this?!”

  
“So, what, you’re just going to leave me is that it?” I asked as I took a step closer, but as I did another painful shock flew through my body, I gritted my teeth and didn’t move.

  
Heather didn’t move though and her once angered gaze as now directed at the floor. I tilted my head in confusion, then it dawned on me.

  
“What are you not telling me?” I stood up straight and looked over at her. Heather only sighed and stood up straight as well, her attempt to prove she was in the right.

  
“There’s someone else. Someone who’s there for me and understands my problems.”

  
“What problem!?” I shouted angrily and as expected another jolt of pain rush through me, this one though brought me to my knees.

  
“Do you know what it's like to comfort your boyfriend who has morning sickness!? Or have to take them to the doctor to check on the abomination growing inside of them!? How would that make you feel!” Heather shouted down at me as I clenched my stomach trying to overcome the pain.  
Heather picked her bags back up in her paws and turned to leave the bedroom. Her ears where down and when she reached the door she turned back to look at me.

  
“You and that…thing will be the biggest mistake this world has seen.”

She turned back around and walked out of the bedroom. I tried to stand up, tried to stop her, talk to her, but the pain in my stomach was far more of an influence. I only gasped in pain as I felt myself become sick and had no means to control it. I only turned onto the floor, clutching my stomach as I felt tears roll down my face and a sheering pain in my stomach.

  
“Heather…please…” I pleaded softly. “Don’t leave…” But my plead was only met with the slam of the front door and for the first time that I could remember, I was truly alone…

 


	4. The Darkest of Pits (Pov Nick Wilde)

_I've heard time and time again that once you reach the lowest point in your life you start to climb back to the top. But I've also concluded that, that analogy is absolutely untruthful. There are situations in life that don’t allow you to come back to the top, where no matter how hard you try the top will never be there again. Where events are so traumatic, so hurtful and out of your control that there is no foreseeable outcome that leads to a positive ending. That was the situation for Dad and I. After “Mom” walked out on him…on…us, he didn’t know what to do, and to be completely honest I wouldn’t either…_

  
The bedroom was silent, more so than normal. It was a silence that could make someone uncomfortable, scared even. There was no breeze outside the window, no cars, it was like everything around me had just stopped. I had almost wished for some sound, anything, just to make sure I wasn’t the only one left in the world. Even the lights of the cars, other apartments, of the city in general, was not as bright than normal. It was almost non-existent. Besides the moon casting a small light into the bedroom, it was completely black.

  
I tried to sleep, there was still a sharp pain from my stomach, it felt like a warm pulsing from my now healing wound. I rubbed it softly, trying to ease the pain but only found myself becoming more upset with every motion of my paw. I sniffled, but didn’t bother to try and wipe the tears away, no point, who would see? I soon felt my eyes burn as tears started to form and run down the side of my face as I kept remembering Heathers shrill voice and disgusted eyes.

  
“Abomination! Mistake! Thing!”

  
Those words rang over and over in my mind as I lied there trying to sleep, trying to forget the events that had taken place no more than an hour ago, but how could I? I sat up, trying hard to mind the pain in my stomach which soon went more internal than external. I rubbed my stomach again trying to calm the pain, again. I turned my head to the empty spot on my bed and my mind went away from the pain and back to the guilt towards Heather. For the past hour, despite being in non-stop pain, I've been punishing myself for making Heather leave. I had argued back and forth with myself but the end was still the same, it was my fault that Heather had left, it was my fault that we were in this situation, I was the one who should have given her more attention and listened to what she wanted. Heck, talking to Judy probably annoyed her enough to make her leave let alone me being…

  
I looked down at my stomach and I soon began to feel a burning in my mind, in my eyes as I felt a slight growl escape me. I slowly clutched my stomach causing more pain than I could have imagined but I didn’t care. I dug my claws into the bed as I stared down at my stomach.

  
“This is your fault…” I muffled angrily. When there was no response I felt myself get hot with rage, I dug my claws deeper into the bed.

  
“This all happened because Heather wanted a kit and she wouldn’t stand to adopt. She left me because I decided to do something that she wanted but couldn’t do. She left because of the thing I have inside of me, what those goddamn doctors put in me.” I gripped the bed tighter and pushed a little on my stomach.

  
“The woman I loved, walked out because I tried to be a good boyfriend, because I loved her and only wanted to make her happy and what did she say to me? That what I had was an abomination, a thing, a mistake!”

I felt my jowls start to rise and the fur on my neck begin to stand. My mind was racing, I had never felt so mad, so enraged before. I gripped my stomach tighter, looking down at it in hate, at that...thing inside of me.

  
“You did this…you did this to me, to my girlfriend, to our relationship. I've lost everything and It's all because of you!” I ripped a piece of my bed off and quickly threw it to the ground!  
“THIS IS YOUR FAULT--AHH!”

I screamed at the top of my lungs which was soon met with a loud yelp from the pit of my throat. A quick reaction made my wrap my arms around my stomach. I hunched over, quivering in pain. I couldn’t move, I didn’t want to. I was sure that someone had just shot me, there was an unbelievable pain coming from my stomach, but it wasn’t like the others I was somewhat used to. I began to feel a wetness on my paw which shocked me and as I brought it up see right away I had seen the palm of my paw was covered in blood. My eyes widened as I noticed the claws on my paw were out and each claw was covered with blood, my blood. I gasped lightly as I moved my arms and seen four small holes just around my stomach and a light amount of blood start to come from each mark.

  
“W…what?” I looked at my claws, my eyes widened the sudden realisation of what I had just done. I looked down at my stomach, then I quickly came to my senses.

  
“Oh my god!” I quickly jumped to my feet, ignoring the pain and ran to the bathroom, almost tripping over my own feet in the process. I quickly opened the medicine cabinet, pushing and moving things out of the way and as quickly as I could I grabbed the bottle of alcohol, I then turned and grabbed a towel from the rack beside the shower. I rinsed the towel under water and pressed pressed it against the wound, clenching my teeth as I did.  
Then, without a moment's hesitation I opened the alcohol and dumped a bit of it on the open wound.

  
“AH! Sweet, Cheese!” I yelped in pain as I reached up to grab the box of bandaids.

I sat down on the toilet, gasping, trying to get over the pain but to no luck. I patched it up as carefully as I could, trying hard not to hurt myself any more than I already had, which was ironic to say the least.

  
I looked down at the wound, I’d want to say I was admiring my quick patch but I was appalled by my actions. I slowly stood up and walked back to the bed, still clutching my stomach softly, keeping my paw away from where I had cut myself, or stabbed myself? I walked back to the bed and slowly lied back down, being mindful of the extra pain I was experiencing. I lied on my side, tucking my knees in slightly as I ran my hand back to my stomach, softly caressing the small bump as I felt a deep pit in my stomach…

  
“I'm sorry…” I whispered softly as I closed my eyes trying to ignore the pain. “I'm so so sorry…”  
  
I woke up refreshed, pained but refreshed. I groaned as I moved my paw over my eyes, covering myself from the bright light that was shining through the open window directly on my face. Despite its welcoming warmth it proved to be more annoying than anything else. I groaned and turned over onto my side and as I did I slightly opened my eyes trying to get used to the morning light. My eyes quickly widened as my blurred vision slowly dissipated and I realized that someone was beside me.

  
“H-Heather?” I asked astonished.

  
I quickly fumbled up from the bed, sitting up and staring at Heather lying beside me. She was lying on her side, her tail draped over her legs as she looked at me, her eyes much more loving and caring than when she left. I didn’t know what to do, what to say. A warming relief came over me as I felt myself start to tear up, again. I reached over and touched her paw softly, feeling her soft fur and warm touch on my paw. I chuckled in disbelief as she reached over and caressed my cheek tenderly, running a thumb over my tears and wiping them away.

  
“I…I thought I lost you…” I whispered as I leaned into her paw.

  
“I couldn’t leave you, Nick, how could I ever leave you or our kit.” She ran her paw through the fur on my head, once more filling me with relief and warmth.

  
“I…I was so worried. About you about us, that we’d be alone. It’s a stupid fear I know but..”

  
“Shh…” Heather said sitting up as she brought her other paw to my cheek. “It's okay Nicky, I’d never leave you or our kit…”

  
I moved over putting her paws on my chest as I leaned in to hug her tightly, enjoying her warm embrace. It was everything I loved, her soft fur, her smell, everything. I lied my head softly on her shoulder and as I did I could feel her snout move past my chin and to my ears.

  
“Even if it is a mistake…” she whispered in my ears.

  
“W…what?”

  
I felt a hard shove on my chest as Heather pushed me off of the bed, not moving her head or her gaze in the slightest. I fell hard onto the floor with a large BANG! Landing directly on my back, pinning my tail underneath it. I lied there, trying to control the pain, gritting my teeth and groaning. I tried to prop myself on my elbows but the pain alone was too much, I couldn’t…

  
“Hmm…” Heather said with a smile as she climbed off the bed and walked over, slowly, calmly, and silent. When she came to my side she stood there, looking down at me and smiling while she did. She nudged me in my ribs with her foot as she scoffed again. Moving down on her knees she placed a paw on my stomach, putting pressure on it causing an unbearable pain to run through my body.

  
“Look at you…” She chuckled as pressed her paw harder on my stomach “a pathetic excuse of a male. How could you ever amount to anything let alone be a father. A Fox as a dad will always be a screw up, a dead beat, an abusive monster…”

“You’re wrong!” I strained which only lead to her slamming my head back onto the floor and more pressure on my stomach. I gasped in pain as I shut my eyes tightly.

  
“Oh am I? Your father was a dead beat drunk who left you and your mom, and mine was…abusive, and their fathers were abusive and theirs before them and so on. Its an continuous cycle love, you will not be any different.”

  
“You don’t know that-AHH!” Her claws dug into my stomach and I yelped feeling sheer burning pain enter my stomach and run through my body.

  
“Yes. I. Do.” She moved her claws again making me scream in pain “You will always be nothing, just like your father and your kit…it'll grow up knowing it's an abomination…just. like…you!”

  
“No!” I shouted. I sat up in a quick but pained motion. I looked around the dark room in panic and confusion…

  
_There are times in life where even the toughest of men will fall, where they will admit they need help. Now dad was no self absorbed fox by any means but he never liked asking for help. Call it what you will, stubbornness, annoying, I call it pride. As of now, dad was alone…mom was, not there yet and even in the back of his mind he didn’t want to go to her, in fear of rejection? No, he wasn’t there yet. It was a fear that he would lose one of the most import mammals in his life…but life as a funny way of working out…_

  
“What…” I said weakly as I gasped with a sharp pain, I brought my paw down to where it was hurting. It was wet to touch, bring it up to my mouth I lightly touched it with my tongue.

  
“Blood?” I moved the sheets and I could see blood starting to seep through bandages on my stomach and run onto the sheets. “Oh…oh…” I didn’t know what to think.

  
I got up hurriedly and went back into the washroom and repeated my earlier attempt to clean the cut and bandage the wound, this time using actual bandages instead of small band aids. I then ran the water on the sink and splashed it on my face, trying to make sense on what had happened.

  
“It was just a dream…a nightmare…”

I ran my paws past my ears as I tried to clear my mind but…I couldn’t. I looked in the mirror and flashes of the dream clouded my mind. I shook my head trying to clear them out but they wouldn't go. The images were so fresh in my mind I kept hearing Heather's voice echo in my ears though it was like a whisper, I could feel her hate, her paw on my stomach, the disgust in her voice. I splashed more water on my face, trying to find comfort in the coolness on my fur but in reality I was trying to find comfort in the fact that I was awake. That it was just a dream. Walking back to my bed, I dried my face off with one of the towels and threw it across to the hamper, missing it completely. I sat back down on the bed resting my head in my hands. I couldn't go back to sleep, I didn’t want to try either. I sighed, looking over at the clock which read in big red numbers 5:15.  
My body was shaking, though I wasn’t cold, I was scared. Scared that Heather would be right. Scared that I would be just like my father or even her father, it was in our genes, it was who we were…foxes…  
I looked over at my phone, a stupid thought ran through my mind. I was conflicted with myself and I knew that what I was feeling, what I wanted to do or even should do was beyond me. I had choices to make, as much as it hurt me to admit there was a chance that id go into this, into fatherhood, alone. Would I actually be capable to take care of a kit by myself? Heck once others found out about what happened I'd slowly start to lose my friends…I just…I don’t know what I should do…  
I sat on my bed, my eyes were sore and my stomach pained, wracking my head completely confused of what to do and hearing Heathers shrilling voice in my head.

  
“You will always be nothing, just like your father and your kit…it'll grow up knowing it's an abomination…just like…you.”

  
I could feel myself coming close to tears, taking in a quivering breath and trying hard to control the mixture of emotions that flew through me. What hurt more was knowing, deep down, that Heather was right. About everything I was, about my father, about me becoming like my father, and my kit… I ran my paw back down on my stomach and around the small but growing bump. Would they grow up knowing what I did, or resenting me, like how I resent my dad for walking out on my mom, for making the choices I made. To bring them into the world like this, would they ever understand that I did it out of love or would they look at me in disgust?

  
These thoughts poured through my mind, I didn’t attempt to control my emotions, I threw my paws over my eyes and felt the tears hit my palms softly. Running my paws up, brushing the fur on my head softly, I sank my head down, resting my elbows on my legs and continued to cry, remembering my father, Heather, and thinking what I could become…then beyond those thoughts I feared the thought of being alone. Of being in the situation that I had welcomed into my life and having no one by my side through it and it wasn’t until now that I had realized how terrifying that concept or even the reality, truly is. In the end, I’ve never truly been alone, but now…  
Taking another quivering sigh, I ran my paws through the fur on my head, I realized that I had no idea what I was doing with my life. I’m going to be a father in a few months and I still have no idea what I’m doing! What am I going to-

  
Rinnng

“Huh?” lifting my head slowly, the sound breaking into my thoughts, I looked around my room.

Rinnng

  
I looked to my night stand and noticed the sound was coming from my phone, now shining bright and vibrating.

  
“Who in the…who’s calling me at this hour?” I asked quietly to myself. I slowly reached over, picking up my phone. My eyes widened at the name and picture as it rang again.

  
“What did she want?” I thought in a minor disbelief. I swallowed hard as I slid my finger across the screen, accepting the call. Clearing my throat, trying to sound normal I quietly whispered…

  
“Carrots?”  


 


	5. In Time of Need

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Devastated by Heathers recent departure, Nick tries to find comfort and peace by being alone in his home, but a certainty bunny will make sure that his morning is anything but peaceful…

_Something that dad had always forgotten, for many years, was the simple fact that mom would always be there for him. In earlier fashions, it was as a friend. Now as his best friend and wife. It’s taken him a while to fully grasp that fact, mom even told me stories of them when I was a young kit how she had to just walk in, on a daily basis, just to make sure we were okay just because he wouldn’t call and ask for help. In the end, it resulted in her moving in but that’s another story on its own. The main point is that dad, despite being the mammal he is, would never admit he needed help, at least not easily…_

Staring blankly at the window ahead of me I stuttered, trying to think of something to say and feeling like an idiot when I couldn’t. I swallowed hard and took a deep breath, holding my stomach and rubbing it softly.  
“C-Carrots?”

“Nick…I…I was worried you wouldn’t answer, or that…it wouldn’t be you on the other end.”

“Heh, well it’s me, who else would it be?”

“Do you really have to ask?” Judy said in a rather monotonic voice. I awkwardly chuckled, rubbing the back of my head.

“No, I guess not.”  
There was a short, but awkward, pause on the phone and a silence that made me think “I’m about to get yelled at, or something along that line”. It wasn’t long until I head Judy give out a soft sigh.

“Nick?”

“Hmm?”   
Here we go…

“What’s wrong?”

I’ll be the first to admit that her question wasn’t what I expected, like I said I was sure she was going to yell at me for something or say something about Heather, or both!

“N-nothing’s wrong. Why would you think that?”

  
“Other than the fact that you just stuttered, you’ve been distant from me and everyone at the ZPD for six weeks now. You were at the hospital at some point and you won’t tell me why. On top of all that…” Judy took a deep breath. “Nick, can’t you see that Heather is abusing you? Heck she freaked out just because I went to check up on you!”

Oh god what could I tell her? The truth? Yea that would go well; no, I’m all good, just deifying biology and, I’m sure, every religion on the Earth but I’m all good! Regardless, she was my friend, probably the closest friend I had at this point, she deserved to know the truth. What if she hated me for it or considered me a freak for doing what I was doing, just like Heather? I couldn’t lose another person that I loved, not again, not two in less than a few hours. I had to tell her something, but what?!  
“Fleas!”

“What?” Judy responded plainly.

“Fleas, they’ve been bad this time! I haven’t been thinking straight and that’s why I’ve been distancing myself and why I haven’t been at work and in the hospital, and why Heather left! It’s not-“  
‘Whoops…’

“What was that?” Judy asked, concerned. “Nick, what did you just say?”

“Fleas?…” I squeaked out.

“Nick, where’s Heather?”

“I told you, she’s just keeping her distance because of the-“

“Fleas, yea you said that. Nick…” Judy sighed, I could hear her move the phone around before returning it to her ear. “Nick, I care about you, more than you know. If you don’t want to tell me then fine but at least tell me if you are okay or not.”

I sighed, lowering my head and rubbing my eyes. It wasn’t that she was frustrated or upset with me, it was she was worried for me, that much I could tell. I was washed over with guilt, what should I do? Tell her the truth, just leave her in the dark? No…but I couldn’t tell her everything, not yet, not now.

“No.” I said softly.

“No what?” Judy asked matching my softness, her voice sounding close to that of a mother caring for her child, it stupidly reminded me of my own mother.

“I’m not okay.” Sighing and running my paw back through the fur on my head and down my ears, I waited for the inevitable sigh of concern or relief that I said something truthful or even for the questions to start, but my expectations were brought to a quick end. There were no questions, no sigh of pity or concern, just silence.  
Judy broke the silence just though when she asked:  
“You’re at your place, right?”

I lifted my head in surprise and looking down at the phone with a puzzled expression on my face I asked myself “Why would she ask me that?”

“Yea, why?” I inquired.

“Good, don’t move. I’ll be there in a few minutes, I’ll bring some coffee for you. See you soon.”

“Wait! Judy!” but I was too late. Before I could get a word in edgewise she had already hung up. “Darn it!”

Glaring down at my bump and rubbing it, trying to ease the pain of my wound and find comfort in it. Panic began to rush through me as I held my stomach, my bump…  
“What am I going to tell her?”  
It’s not like the thought was in anyway new to me, I asked myself this question more than once during my procedure, but now I had to have an answer. Telling her the truth could risk our friendship but at least I would be honest with her. What would she think of me though? That I was a freak, a monster? Would she shame me just like Heather did, or better yet could I blame her if she did? Sighing, I looked back down and held the small bump.  
“You…are causing me a lot of grief. I hope you know that,” chuckling and smiling deviously I looked back down at the bump “She’s bringing coffee you know, and I haven’t had I cup in almost seven weeks. I’m going to have it whether you like it or not. Got it?”

I silently waited for some sort of pain or response from the bump but was left with nothing.

“Good. Glad, we got that settled.” I looked up and blinked at a quick realisation “Oh god…I’m one of those mammals that talks to their kit while they’re pregnant. Look at what you’ve done to me!” I said in a quick laugh, absentmindedly forgetting about Judy or any of those worries. For the first time since I woke up from surgery or let Judy crash on the couch with me, I actually felt happy. I’m not sure if it’s a bad thing to say that even with Heather I wasn’t happy…

“ _Never let them see that they get to you.” That was dad’s greatest motto for most of his life, up until he met mom that is. Even if he got rid of that frame of mind he still hid his emotions from so many mammals. During that night when my “mom” left him…he was broken. His mind was nothing more than a jumbled mess. Let me put it in perspective: Person that you’ve spent most of your life with decides to leave you and your unborn kit, not just because they can’t handle it but because of another mammal. If that wouldn’t break the other then I don’t know what would. Dad was at his lowest, in return he hurt himself, which was something he didn’t want to do. In the end, he loved me, or what was growing in him. Now with that in mind, he was still scared about what others would think about me, well now, him. Though, deep down, he knew that mom would never judge him, pregnancy has a way of messing with your emotions…_

_Knock knock knock_

“Okay Nick…” I quietly said to myself “You can do this…you can do this…” I reached out, my paw was shaking and I felt like I was going to have a heart attack. This was it, this is how I would die. Not from a random mammal with a gun or a careless driver, or even a crazy ex-girlfriend, but telling my best friend the truth.

‘Please let this be a crazy lunatic!’ I unlocked the door and pulled it open.

“Hey Carrots!” I exclaimed in an overly excited voice.  
‘Damn!’

“Hey slick.” Judy said happily as she pressed herself in for a hug but backed away quickly. “Or should I say stink, geez Nick when was the last time you had a shower? You smell like my dad’s truck after a hot day in the field.”

“What? I thought old dad smell was all the rage. Ohh is that for me?” I asked as I pointed down at one the coffees in Judy’s paws. She giggled at my question and handed it over to me.

“Yup, I hope I remembered it right. It has been a few weeks since I ordered it for you.”  
“Heh…yea, it has been.”

There was a moment of, awkward, silence shared between the two of us. I coughed slightly as I tried to overcome the feeling of my pounding heart.

“Do you want to come in?” I asked foolishly standing to the side.

“I don’t know, is Heather hiding around waiting to bite my head off?”

“Um no…no she is not.” Narrowing my eye, I was a little shocked at Judy’s comment “a little informal there, don’t you think, fluff?”

“Maybe a little, sorry. I’m honestly still a little annoyed at her.”

“Oh? For?” I asked, moving to the side and letting Judy walk in, closing the door behind her. Judy only chuckled as she turned around to face me.

“Nick, You know I care about you right?” She chuckled, but still showed sincerity in her voice.

“Well I…yes.”

“Then I’m sorry but why are you with her?!” Judy stated in a loud and straightforward manner, letting out a large portion of her pent-up frustration. “I mean she treats you like garbage! I swear I’ve seen Bogo treat you better than she does, and that’s saying something!”  
“Judy, did you come here just to chew and spit me out?” I asked as I walked over to the couch, past Judy, and put my coffee down on the table.

“I came because I care. Because…” She looked away and blank hard, closing her eyes tight and brushing something away quickly. “I came because I miss you, because I’m worried that who you’re in a relationship with is only going to abuse you. Nick…”

Judy sat down beside me, putting her cup down on the table next to mine. Looking over at her, ears were down across her back, her normal dancing violet eyes were empty, sad, broken and her nose was twitching, more than I had ever seen before.

“I came because you’re my friend…my only true friend here. When we were on the phone I could tell right away that something was wrong, I knew I had to come down.”

“…Why did you call?”

“I don’t know.” Judy said with a light but tearful chuckle, wiping the tears that were starting to fall down the fur on her cheeks. “I just had this deep…gut feeling that I should call you.”

“Aww. Thinking about me even in your sleep, Carrots?” I asked playfully, which drew a small smile from her.

“What happened?” Judy asked, looking up at me and as I opened my mouth Judy quickly butted in “And don’t you dare tell me it’s fleas! I want the truth.” Smiling she looked up at me, her eyes were much calmer than last, I guess I didn’t have a choice in the matter.

“Heather…left me. Broke up with me I guess.” I said in a plain tone as I took a sip from my coffee.

“What?” Judy asked, trying to look into my eyes.

“A few hours ago, actually. She was packing her stuff when I woke up. She told me that she met another guy who was more understanding than I was, that he was there for her and-“ I stopped right away, and looked over to Judy.

“And…what?”

I chuckled as I scratched the back of my head as I tried to figure out what the best idea would be. What would be the best thing to tell her?

“It’s not important. The main thing is, she left me in the middle of the night.”

“Nick…” Judy said softly as she put her paw over top of mine. “Please trust me…I’ll always listen to you.”

I looked down at her paw then up into her eyes and as I beheld their amethyst-like beauty. I couldn’t help but be reminded of Heather’s eyes as I stared into them. Their miraculous shade of purple, how calm I felt when I considered her eyes. The only difference with Judy’s compared to Heather’s, Heather’s looked cold at times. Living on the street like we did had a bad effect on us, more so Heather than me and it showed every time I looked into them. But Judy’s? No. They were nowhere near cold, or defensive, hesitant or scared. They were warm. I found that all my stress, my worries, had flown away because of this warmth.  
Turning away, I took another gulp of my coffee. It was time. She had the right to know. After all the things she did for me and, in the case of having to experience Heather’s colder side, went through for me, she deserved to know.

“Judy…I-OOF!” I clutched my stomach, a small bit of air escaped, it felt like something had just punched me.  
“Nick? Are you okay?”  
“Yea! Yup, yup, I’m all good! All good, all go-mmf!” clutching my mouth tightly, I felt a violent jerk in my stomach and more air escape.  
‘I thought we had an agreement you little squirt!’ I thought foolishly, clutching my stomach and my mouth.  
I bolted to my feet quickly and ran to the washroom, spilling our coffees and leaving Judy on the couch in absolute bewilderment. Not the way I had planned this to go.

“Nick!” Judy yelled as she ran into the washroom beside me, getting on her knees and holding my side while I was sick in the toilet.

“Sweet cheese and crackers, we have to get you to a doctor!” Judy exclaimed as she pulled out her phone.

“No! It’s okay I just-“ I couldn’t even finish my sentence, as held my head over the toilet bowl. Judy ran her paws through the fur on my head, running my ears back, which seemed like a pointless effort.

“No, this isn’t okay. I…I’ve never seen this before! At least not with a guy. It could have been a reaction to the coffee, a bad brew! O-or maybe you caught a bug from Heather, or- “

“Holy cripes, Judy! I’m pregnant!”  
  



	6. Heck of a Morning (Pov Judy)

Sitting on Nicks couch, staring blankly ahead at the black screen of the T.V in front of me, I listened to him in the bathroom, happily singing away while the shower ran loudly. He seemed so happy, so carefree, like he had completely forgotten about what had happened just a few short hours ago. Yet they were etched deep into my mind. I could remember the tone of his voice when I called, the burning need to call him in the first place just to make sure he was okay, only to later find out that he’s... I looked over at the bathroom door, little bits of steam escaped through the crack on the bottom and lifted up into the air conditioned living room where I sat.

  
Nicks voice echoed in my head as I tried to make sense of everything, which by my standpoint was extremely difficult. Let’s be honest here, its not everyday one of your closest friends, a male at that, tells you that he’s pregnant! I’m not even sure what I’m supposed to do with this! Just take it in good strides and say “Ohh congrats Nicky!” should I say that? Yes, but not now. Not yet. I still want to know exactly what in the world is going on and more specifically, why did Nick do this?

  
I remember holding his ears back as he was sick into the toilet. One paw on the seat, the other on his stomach. A feeling of helplessness feel over me as I watched him, I honestly didn’t know what I could do. I mean I’ve seen my brothers and sister get sick a lot, besides my mom I was the one who helped and cared for them. When I grabbed Nicks ears, I slightly slid my fingers in, checking the temperature inside his ear, he wasn’t hot. He wasn’t sick. I panicked, having no idea what to do in this situation, I couldn’t give him any medication, if I did it could have hurt him if I made the wrong call. Considering what I know now, I’m glad I didn’t give him anything.   
My ears bolted up when I heard the water come to a stop and Nick stepping out of the shower, letting out a relaxed sigh. A few short minutes later, the creak of the door opened to show Nick, standing in his boxers drying off the back of his ear. My gaze, though minorly hooked on him alone, was quickly redirected to his stomach. A small bump, which covered his whole lower and mid stomach could be easily seen. Though it was small, it gave a hard reality that he wasn’t joking.

  
“Wow!” Nick exclaimed happily “I forgot how good showers felt!”

  
“How long has it been?” I asked, keeping my look on his stomach but hurriedly looking up at him in the doorway of the bathroom. “Since you…um…showered.”

  
“Almost a week.” Nick said with a plain smile. With a sigh, we started to walk over to me, now taking the towel in both paws and drying off his back. “Alright lets get it over with.”

  
“G-get what over with?”

  
“Come on now Fluff, I doubt that sweet, innocent country bun is not having a few questions or thoughts about, well, me.” Nick ran his hand around his stomach, caressing it softly.

  
“Does it hurt?”   
Nicks ears picked up in a light surprise, almost like he didn’t anticipate that question to leave my lips. With a small sigh he held his stomach, but not moving his paw. He kept it on one area only.

  
“No. Not always. Small bits of pain here and there but nothing to write home about.”

  
“Nick how long have you had this.”

  
“They’re not a this!” Nick hissed at me with caused me to move back in surprise his eyes widened at his own comment and tone, causing him to slump back in his seat.

  
“I’m sorry. I don’t know what it is yet, but I know that they’re not a thing or anything like that.” There was a quick pause of silence between us, and for that moment I realized how much Nick had actually grown to the…kit in this stomach.

  
“Six weeks. Its been six weeks.”

  
“Six weeks? So that’s…wait is that why you were at the hospital?”

  
“Yup, docs weren’t taking anything out. They were putting something in.”

  
“Nick…why? How? I mean this is…”

  
“A monster?”

  
“No! I was not going to say that!” I stated very quickly.

  
There was another long pause. I thought about what I could say next, I was stepping on eggshells, the last thing I wanted to do was to say the wrong thing or upset Nick in any manner.

  
“The how is hard to explain. So, long to short, there is a lot of plastic in me. I think even some fish though I’m not quite sure. As for the why well that is easier to explain.”   
Nick let out yet another sigh, as he looked over at me. My ears were down, my nose was twitching and I could feel this burning anxiety in my gut.

  
“I was going to ask Heather to marry me. I didn’t tell anyone because I knew what most of them would say, even you carrots.”

  
“Nick, I-“

  
“Judy.” Nick said with a chuckle “You don’t need to say anything. I see what everyone was talking about now. Any way, she was the person I was ready to start my life with. I loved her Judy. I was ready to do whatever it took for her to be happy, even at the risk to my own life…so remember when her and I were going to the doctors?”

  
“Yeah?”

  
“Well they found something, something that hurt heather more than I had ever seen. She couldn’t have kits.”

  
“So that’s why you did it.” I stated with a quick realization. “You did this so she could have her kit.”

  
“And in return, she went off and messed around with another fox. I should’ve listened to you sooner. I should’ve realized that she was just going to hurt me in the end.”

  
“You could never have know, Nick. You cant blame yourself over that.” I leaned over, putting my paw on his arm, I then looked down and noticed a small red mark on his stomach, just above where his paw was.   
“Nick, what’s that?” I asked moving my paw but inching closer.

  
“Nothing!” Nick said hurriedly as her covered up the mark. Glaring at him, his ears flew down as I reached over and pulled his hand away from his stomach. Four puncture wounds could be easily seen on his stomach. I put a paw to my mouth, covering my gasp.

  
“Nick, oh my god!”

  
“Its nothing, really.” Nick said trying to push away my paw from examine it.

  
“No its not! Its not even dressed! Didn’t they teach you anything in the academy?”

  
“Honestly I slept most of the time.”

“Yea I know, the pictures are still floating through the ZPD and the academy. Stay right here, where do you keep the bandages?”

  
“In the washroom, but I don’t- wait what was that about pictures?”

  
_When it came to mom, even when I was a kit, there would be times when her word was law. When she set out to do something, you stay out of her way! Not that anything would happen to me but on more than a few times did she have to do that with dad. Now when dad first told her about, well, me, he expected the worst. But in realty what he got was his closest friend trying to take care of him, which at this point meant pouring alcohol on his wound._

  
“AHH! Sweet lambs above! Can you make this any more painful!” Nick screamed out as I splashed a small bit of cleaning alcohol on his cut.

  
“Hey, I’m not the one who doesn’t have any peroxide in their cabinet. Now stop being such a pup and take a deep breath.” I said in between giggles, though I did find it a little funny I couldn’t help but wonder how he got these cuts. It was almost like someone had hurt him on purpose. Heather, maybe?

  
“You know, has anyone told you that you’re kinda cute when you’re ma- IEEEE!”

  
“Oh, I’m sorry what were you saying?” I asked with a sly smile as I dapped the alcohol away

  
“Not funny!”

  
“Speak for yourself. I’m almost done, one more splash. Hold your breath and here we are.”

  
“Cheese and cracker!” Nick growled as I put on the last of the alcohol

  
“Awe you got that from me.” I said in an overly sweet voice “You should watch your swearing though, Nicky, especially if there’s going to be a little one running around.”

  
“Heh well I would say more colourful words but the story has to be kept PG.”

  
“What?” I asked confused as I looked up at him, turning the cap back on the container.

  
“What? Nothing. Are you done?”

  
“Almost, I just have to apply the bandages.”

  
I pulled out a role of white gauze and a few pins and got to work wrapping it around Nicks stomach. His breathing was calming down which was a relief. I carefully ran my paws around his stomach, trying hard not to pinch any fur in between the bandages. In his fur, I could see the patch where he had his surgery. I looked up at him, he was leaning his head back on the couch, his eyes closed.

  
“Any names?”

  
“Huh?” Nick asked confused  
.  
“Any names, for your kit?”

  
“heh, well Heather thought of a few but…”

  
“Let me guess; her parents?”

  
“That predictable?”

  
“I remember the Christmas stories.”

  
“Honestly, I haven’t given it much thought. I mean sometimes i'll absentmindedly think about it but I don’t take it seriously.”

  
“Well…how much longer do you have?”

  
“For a fox? Its been six weeks so…two and a half months left. Give or take.”

  
“That’s not long. And you still haven’t gotten anything ready?” I asked as I stood back away from nick, admiring my medical work on his bandage.

  
“Well its not like I’ve left the house at all. I’ve been a prisoner for lack of a better word.”

  
“I doubt there is a better word. But forget that! Tomorrow, or today I guess, you and I are going out.”

  
“Going out? Look Carrots, that’s sweet of you but I just got out of a relationship a few hours ago.

  
I felt my nose give a slight twitch, I could even feel myself get a little hotter as my ears flew down, I only hopped nick couldn’t see my nose or my eyes for that matter.

  
“N-not that way, slick! I mean take you out and buy some baby things. Maybe take a visit over to my folks and see if they have anything that could help.”

  
“Whoa, your folks?! It was hard enough telling you but them?!”

  
“Don’t worry, if I’m okay with it then they’ll be too.”

  
I smiled softly as sat back down beside him. Taking a deep breath, I looked up at him reaching a paw over and touching his shoulder softly.

  
“Nick?”

“Yeah?”

  
I looked down at his bump, which still showed despite the minor layer of bandages around it, I think I might have overdone it.

  
“May I... feel it?” I asked foolishly.  
If there is one thing I’ve learned after many of my sisters carrying my nieces and nephews was that in no case do you just reach over and feel it without asking first, depending on the situation. But my request brought a smile that flew across Nicks muzzle. A small wag of his tail he nodded his head.

  
Smiling, I reached down and gently placed my paw on his bump, being careful to avoid his wound. It was incredible to think of why he did this, the thought was still a little foreign but the fact remained, I was slowly coming to terms with Nicks pregnancy. Let’s face it, it’s a lot to take in and by no means normal but the fact remains he did this out of love for someone who sadly didn’t love him back. Though he didn’t know that at the time, its still a respectable action. On top of it all, he was my…closest friend, to say the least. I wasn’t going to leave him over something like this. Though one things for sure, the next few months are sure going to be interesting.

  
“Congrats Nicky.” I said with a soft smile. “Looks like you're going to be a dad after all.”

  
“Well…” Nick said with a smile “Would I be the dad or the mom? I could be the dom or the mod, you know, because I’m modified!”

  
Laughing I pushed on his snout as I stood back up and took Nicks paw in mine, helping him to his feet, more so as a joke than anything else.

  
“Why don’t you go throw a shirt and some pants on, some of the local breakfast places should be open and we never did get to finish our coffees.”

  
Walking away with only a smile, just by admiring Nick's eyes I could see that he was much more at ease than when I first walked in this morning, which was a great relief to me. Despite what Nick is going through, above that we’re partners, friends, I’m not going to leave him to be alone just because he did something out of love. I was proud of him, and to be completely honest, I was kind of excited too.

 

 


	7. Nicks Conditon, Judys Affection

_Mom's reaction to dads announcement was more than a pleasant surprise for him and her actions after his announcement were a even more pleasant surprise. After the horrible night that dad had endured, “mom” breaking up with him leaving him completely alone with me not even born yet , it was pleasant for him to know that there was someone, other than the group of doctors, who actually supported his decision and actually respected him for it. It was something he honestly didn’t expect, though he never told me that personally but each time he'd tell me the story I could always tell by his eyes, but that’s for another time! Now when mom suggested they go out, I doubt there could have been any better suggestion. Not just because it was a time for them to spend time as friends, which was something they both needed and wanted, but because this was the day that dad said he first felt something for mom. Despite just being out of a relationship he felt something, though he didn’t say anything right away he always told me that, that day was the first real day he felt a spark towards her…_

When Judy and I left my apartment, I mainly went out more for her benefit, to humour her in a sense. What I honestly didn’t expect was that she'd be more happy for this than I was. In the morning, just short of seven, we decided to go to a local café, one that was just a few blocks from my place. With that in mind we figured it wasn't far enough to warrant a drive, so we walked it. Which was interesting to say the least. I mean it's not like I didn’t hang out with Judy before, we hung out plenty of times, without Heathers knowledge mind you. But this time just felt different, there was a sort of positive feeling from being with her, like a starting of a new life. I guess you could say I was happier than a pig in-

  
“Oh my goodness! Nick! Look!” Judy squealed as we walked past a few stores. She grabbed my paw and ran over to one of the stores with a front window display. She presented her nose to the glass, then looking up at it I felt my eyes widen and my ears droop down.  
  
“No. No way.” I stated plainly.

  
“Why not! You'll need a new wardrobe anyway! May as well shop early!”

  
The sign read “Shirts for males,” then in big, bold, lettering “FATHERS DAY CATALOGUE” and there stood, on display, the most hideous floral design shirt, with cargo shorts. The stomach matched something I would see from Heathers father during a family barbecue. It extended past the waistline by at least six or so inches. I doubt anyone would be able to see their feet with that type of stomach.

  
“I think i'll manage, besides my stomach isn't going to get that big.” Judy only snickered, and with a paw on my back smiled.

  
“Keep telling yourself that, Slick. We’ll be back for it.”

  
“No we will not!” I hurriedly pushed her away from the store before she noticed any other shirts that would look, and probably feel, awful.

  
When we finally made it to the café, like I said it wasn't far from my apartment but a few stops at the local shops or more so peering through the windows at the closed shops, extended our walking time. But we still made it into the café before the morning rush, which was a relief. The smell of the freshly baked food made my mouth water, I licked my chops as I felt a little wag in my tail. Looking over at Judy, it was obvious she was enjoying the aroma as well, her eyes were closed in a small state of euphoria. I guess there's no better way to start the day then having a cup of coffee with your partner. Well coffee for her, tea for me.

  
We grabbed our drinks, with were in small white mugs, with one muffin each. A carrot one for her and a freshly baked blueberry one for me. It was at that perfect warm, moist and crunchy stage that when I took a bite it practically melted in my mouth. Taking that savoury bite into my muffin the only thing I could think was “Just let me have this you little squirt. You can take my coffee and my sleep, but don’t you dare take my muffin!”

  
Looking over at Judy, she was reacting the same as she took a bite of her muffin. A sigh of joy and relaxation. I sat back in my chair, taking a sip of my tea, as I kept looking at Judy, to which she didn’t seem to notice. I couldn't help but wonder why she didn’t react the same way Heather did when I was sick. Maybe because she seen it so many times before? Then again, Heather works with cubs of all shapes and sizes, there's pretty much nothing she hasn't seen. This required further investigation!

  
“Judy, tell me something. How are you okay with me?” She looked up, swallowing another bite of her muffin. Then rubbing her mouth with the napkin she smiled.

  
“Well I'm not going to lie, you have a bit sharper teeth than my friends back home. Plus your cocky, snarky, an occasional pain in the butt-“

  
“Alright alright, thanks for pointing out my many flaws.” I said with a light chuckle.

  
“Yea well you're my pain in the butt.”  
  
“Hmm?” I asked looking up from my mug.

  
“What? Nothing!”

“Mhm. What I meant was, how are you okay with me being…you know.” Judy only giggled as she, too, took a sip from her beverage.

  
“Why wouldn't I be?”

  
“Well lets face it, this isn't exactly normal.”

“Nick, the more you ask the more it seems like you don’t want me to be okay with it.” She said with a light smile.  
  
Honestly, there may have been some truth to Judy's statement, though nothing I’d openly admit to. It may sound idiotic but maybe me asking constantly was a way of me trying to persuade her not to be okay with me, to save me the annoying pain of losing yet another friend later on. But I guess I'm getting too far ahead of myself, this is Judy were talking about. It's not like she shied away from me before.  
I gave a light chuckle as I rubbed the back of my head, running my paw through my fur and around my ears.

  
“Well you're not overly wrong, I suppose. I don’t mean to be that obnoxious, it's a satisfying feeling to know that you don’t see me as some sort of idiot”

  
“Nick, I promise you, I have nothing against your actions. If I seems a little off its because I'm still contemplating running over Heather with the cruiser.”

  
“You really don’t like her, do you?” I said grinning.

  
“I can't think of any reason as to why I would like her. I mean, don’t get me wrong I do feel bad that she broke up with you only because that hurt you. But, Nick…Why? Why her?”

  
Yet another question I didn’t have a full answer too. Regardless, I found myself starting to tell Judy about my childhood, more indepth than any other time i've told her. I told her about how my father left my mom and I when I was a kit. How Heather and I both had to deal with abuse and discrimination for being foxes, especially in Zootopia. Where, in the end, all we had was each other.

  
Heather lived a harder life than I did, at least my dad walked out on us before he could do any real harm, but Heather wasn't so lucky. I've lost count of times when she’d sneak into my room just to hide from her father and mother. Her eye would be swollen shut, her muzzle would be scratched, though nothing overly visible or identifiable as a grown foxes claw mark. It once came to the point that she snuck into my room and, grabbing my hand, pulled me awake and out of my house. Begging me to run away with her. How could I say no, I was already in love with her. That night we ran away together, with only a bag of clothing each and a goal to get as far away from our families as we could. We were just over fourteen, so I was already on my way with hustling people. In the end we figured anything would be better than our lives before. Of course that didn’t last long, soon enough we were caught by the ZPD. Heather was brought back to her parents, and from there it only got worse…Now a day her parents have calmed down but what they did to her, the initial pain and corruption changed her from the kind hearted vixen I knew, into the cold fox I know today.

  
“That's why you stuck with her…” Judy stated quietly.

  
“I figured I could help her, change her. Take her memory away from the past and push it towards the present and the future but no matter what I did nothing could change what her parents did to her.”

  
“But you always said she looked up to her parents, that she loved them.”

  
“More like got used to her life with them. Ever heard of Stockholm syndrome? Think of what she's going through as a very mild version of that. Who she is today wasn't always who she was. She was like you actually. Kind hearted, goaling to help others and make a difference. But I guess that wasn't the life for her.”

  
There was a moment of silence between us, for myself it was to refer to on the life that I had with Heather, our childhood, and the love we shared. As for Judy, I could only assume it was to realize that Heather was more than she let on. That she wasn't, by nature, rude or hostile all her life. It was only in her later years that she changed, but for the worst. Regardless, the old Heather was lost to me years ago, nothing would bring her back. This was something I had to get over. Even though she officially left me only hours ago it felt like she had actually left me all those years ago and all the time from then to now was all artificial, forced. In the deepest part of my heart, I felt like I was a young kit again. Remembering the past, the helplessness, being unable to change the past or even my present and I thought stupidly, what if I went to Heather and begged for her to come back. To be mine again…I felt like that was the best thing for me to do, until I felt something over top of my paw.

  
Looking over at my paw, resting on the table, Judys was on top of mine. Softly pushing her fingers under my palm, essentially holding it. Not looking up at her, I wrapped my fingers around hers. We then adjusted our paws so we could hold them more comfortably. Then, looking up at her, she gave me a small smile. Her amethyst eyes sparkled with the same admiration that she gave when she found me under that bridge, and in a instance I felt all of the helplessness, that feeling of being so small just disappear. It was like a great weight was lifted from my chest and for the first time in over a month I had felt some aspect of hope, of actual joy and happiness.

  
Giving her a small smile back, I felt a tear run down from my eye, but I was to captivated to care about it. Judy only reached over, touching my cheek softly, and brushed my tear away with her thumb. Feeling like more of an emotional mess, I chuckled softly feeling her still holding my cheek. Word couldn't begin to describe how I felt. We didn’t even need to say anything, she didn’t need to reassure me or anything. Her touch was enough…it was more than enough…

  
_I had heard this story more than once from both mom and dad. It was moms first real “move”, as dad would call it, towards him and it was something he didn’t object to in anyway. In that short time at the café, he had felt more with mom than the past few years he had spent with “Mom”. Not just emotionally but mentally, for the first real time he had someone who was right there with him. Someone who touched his heart, who was ready to be there in a moments notice and who would supposed him in any way shape or form. Dad was done second guessing the situation. He came to the full realization that mom was there for him, at that moment it was as a friend, but he could feel that there was something more. But it would be a while until he’d do anything about it…_

After our drinks and small breakfast, Judy and I agreed it would be best to get a move on to her parents. Looking at the time, an hour and a half had passed and the drive alone would be about an extra hour or so, but since it was early and a week day to say the least the traffic would be next to none. Since it was some distance away we both agreed that driving would be the best idea compared to taking the train or a cab or Zoober plus good luck finding a driver for the way back! At first I was more than happy to drive us there but, after another sick episode, I thought it would be better if Judy drove. With only a small giggle, after I recovered, we both hopped into her cruiser, and drove off to her parent.

  
Her parents, Bonnie and Stu Hopps, I had met them on a few separate occasions but not for long. Mainly for a brief second when they came in to the station to visit Judy and to let her brothers and sister see where their big sis worked, man i doubt i'll see anything funnier than watching ZPD officers start running around chasing the young buns, keeping out of anything they could get into. Even one point when they were running from the buns! But other than those few time I had never met them on a personal level. Which made going over there and asking for help even more terrifying. Especially in the manner of what I was asking help for. It was hard enough telling judy and that was just to calm her down, but now her parents? Not really something I was looking forward to. I knew Judy could tell that I was nervous, my ears were flat down and I was stare straight ahead like I was driving to my death.

  
“My brothers and sisters will be happy to see you. They missed the fox that saved zootopia.”

  
“They did? They will?” I asked shocked.

  
“Oh big time, they ask about you a lot actually. Both my siblings and even my parents.” She said giving me yet another small smile.

  
“R-really? Why?” When I asked why Judys eyes widened for a second then, with her ears, lowered. She hunched over and brought herself close to the wheel.

  
“I talk about you quite often.” She said quietly, sounding a little embarrassed.

  
“Oh…Well hopefully you highlight all of my good qualities!” I said with a forced laugh. Smooth Nick…

“Well I can promise you that they are going to enjoy seeing you, including my parents.”

  
Letting out a silent sigh of relief I sank back into my seat. I don’t know why it was such a relief that Judys parents would enjoy seeing me, but for that time it was the best news I could ever have asked for at is time. From that point on the rest of the drive went by very fast, it felt like minutes had passed when we pulled into Judys parents. The first thing I seen were a small group, maybe five or six of Judys brothers and sisters try to run beside the cruiser, waving happily. Judy, smiling ear to ear, flicked on the sirens for a second playing with the switch getting the attention of anyone a mile around us. I looked around at the quiet field, the next thing I knew small patches of ears began popping up out of nowhere. Ranging from long and tall to short and stubby, they were popping up all over the field I was looking at. I tapped on Judys leg in a small panic.

  
“Carrots, what the heck is you dad growing out there.”

  
“Hmm, seems to be our welcoming party.” Judy said happily as she came to a slow stop at the front of the house.

“Welcoming party?” I asked in a small panic.

The next thing I knew, I looked back over to the field and a stampede of grey and brown fluff balls all came running towards the car, the only thought I had in my head was “ this is it, this is how I'm going to die. Death by Bun.” I slowly stepped out of the car right onto the path of the oncoming herd. I closed my eyes tight, please god make it quick!

  
“Whoa there!” I heard Judy yell happily as she jumped over the hood and in front of me, sticking her arms out in front of her. Her command alone stopped the stampede just meters from us and the car.

  
“No roughhousing you guys, be gentle with Nick, and I mean it. Now where's mom and dad?”  
  
“Judy!” I heard a familiar voice yell happily. The voice caused all of us to tern our head to the house, were Bonnie, Judys mother, was standing in the doorway, arms open.

  
“Hi mom!” Judy said happily as she ran to her mother.

  
The heads of all of Judys younger siblings turned to look at me. I swallowed hard, but I knew what was going to happen in the end. Letting out a sigh of relief, I too opened my arms to the swarm of mini Carrots.

  
“Alright lets get it over with.” Then with a loud scream from the herd they all ran at me and screamed:  
“Uncle Nicky!” All jumping on me, taking me to the ground.

They were gentle though so i wasn't going to say anything against it. But one after the other they all began moving around me, tickling me, forming a rhino sized carrot pile on me.

“How have you been, sweetheart, have you been taking care of yourself?” Bonnie asked Jud has she let go of her hug.

  
“Yes mom I'm fine.” She said with a soft giggle.

  
“I could have sworn I seen Nick with you.”

  
“Oh he's right…” when Judy turned around only my head was sticking out the the pile of mini carrots on top of me. “There…”

  
“Hi Mrs. Hopps!” I said cheerfully.

  
“Hi Nick.” She said with a chuckle.

  
“Nick are you…”

  
“No no I'm a-okay, kids are missing my stomach, plus I have my arms blocking it so I'm all good! Quick take a picture, we can send it to the ZPD chats “Officer taken down by swarm of Mini Carrots!” It'll be great!”

  
Judy only let out a sigh as she rubbed her head but she kept smiling nonetheless. Bonnie on the other hand stood there like it was an everyday occurrence, though she was smiling too, which was nice to see.

  
“Did I hear the voice of a certain big city officer?” Another familiar voice broke in.

  
“Dad!” Judy screamed happily as she turned and ran up the stairs, hugging her dad tightly.

“Hey there, Jude, how are you holdin’ up? Everything okay in the city? How's Nick Doin’?”

  
“I'm okay but you can ask Nick yourself.” She said with a smile as she turned and showed her dad the pile of kids on top of me.

  
“Hi Nick.” Stu said happily.

“Hi Mr.Hopps.”  
  
“Need a hand there son?”  
  
“Well I'm not going to lie, its starting to get a little hard to breath and I cant feel my tail anymore.”

  
“Alright, common off of Nick all of you.”

  
“AWEEE!” Groaned the group as they all started to slide or move off of me. Just as quickly as they came on they all hopped off and went back to the fields. Stu reached down, grabbing my hand and lifted me up to my feet. For being smaller than me, and being a bunny at that, he could sure hold his own no issue.

  
“My Nick, looks like you've put on a few! Guess Jude’s been giving you those blueberries we sent!” Stu said happily as he patted and dusted off my back.

I knew he didn’t mean it in a insulting manner but I honestly didn’t know what to say. Judy on the other hand gave out a small, snorted and covered laugh.

  
“Well, what can I say?” I said with a forced laugh.

  
“Actually Dad, that’s why we're here. Nick needs a bit of help.” Judy said as she walked down and touched my shoulder softly.

  
_When both mom and dad told grandma and grandpa about dads “condition” it was, one of, the most stressful times in dads life. Of course the drive there was hard but it was put at ease when she told dad what her brothers, sisters, and parents thought of him. But now dad had to sit there and explain, to the people who adored him, that he was pregnant. It wasn't, in anyway, a weak moment, but it was sure a stressful one to say the least._

“Which brings us here today. Nick has no supplies or any clue on what to do and I figured you guys would have some tips or anything to help him.”

  
“Let me get this straight. Nick. Youre…”

  
“Yup.”

  
“Huh, well what’d ya figure, eh Bon?”

  
“Are you okay? It doesn't hurt to much does it?”

  
“N-no, not any more than I can handle. It's just getting used to it that’s all.”

  
“Oh trust me, Hun, there is no getting used to it! But I can't see any reason why we wouldn't be thrilled and happy to help! Right Stu?”

  
“Oh darn right! I'm sure I have some old cribs around in the barn that should be good as new we’d be happy to give them to you.”

  
“I think I have some old clothing that may fit, ill give few different things! Oh and of course book, trust me Nick read as much as you can before the baby comes, it'll save your life. Stu didn’t read it until after our 50th child.”

  
“And thank goodness I did or the other 226 would have been horrible!”

  
Within a moments notice Bonnie and stu, and a handful of Judys brothers and sisters went all around the house. Boxes and bags full of clothing, books, everything that I could honestly need! What shocked me more was how supportive they were of this, I mean the first question Bonnie asked was in regards to my physical comfort. While Judy, Bonnie and a group of Judys brothers and sisters helped around the house gathering everything I may need, I went out with Stu to help with the crib. It took Stu, I, and about four of his sons to get the crib out of its spot without damaging anything else or the crib itself.

It was a beautiful, solid, hand carved oak crib. I was taken by absolute awe by its craftsmanship. As I walked around to the back, I noticed something carved, or written into the headboard:  
Isabelle

  
“Isabelle? Who's that?” I asked as I dusted off the name to get a better look at it.

  
“Hmm? Oh that’s Bons Mother. Absolute peach of a woman.”

  
“Are you sure Bonnie won't mind?”

  
“She insisted you have it, her and I both believe you deserve it. After all you are a part of the family, by the way Judy speaks of you, heck we figured something else would happen first, but it's not my place to gossip now is it! Boys! Come give me a hand with this would ya?!”

  
“Isabelle…Hmm…I've always liked that name…Belle, Isabelle..”

Soon enough the cruiser was loaded with everything Bonnie and Stu could find for me, with consisted of over two boxes worth of book, blankets, pillows, and stuffed toys. And another bag full of clothing that was way too big to fit a rabbit kit but may just fit a Fox kit. Then the crib than both Bonnie and Stu insisted I have, which was probably the greatest gift I could have asked for, especially in this case.

  
Judy gave her dad a goodbye hug while Bonnie moved for me to give her a hug as well, who was I to say no. I bent down and hugged Bonnie rather tightly, and as I did i heard her whisper.

“Take good care of my daughter too, Nick. She cares more about you, more than you realize.”

  
We slowly broke the hug, and with a smile, Bonnie gave me a very subtle wink. I went over and shook Stus hand, still trying to think about what she meant by that. But as I was shaking Stus hand he opened his arms up, but before I could say anything he hugged me, a bit tighter than Bon, I hugged him back, it was the least I could do to show my appreciation.

  
“Now you take care, Nick, and keep us posted!” Stu said as he patted my shoulder.

“I will, I can promise that.”

  
“And if you need any help, please don’t hesitate to call, okay?” Bonnie said happily.  
“I will, hopefully I won't need to but I will.”

  
“Take care mom and dad, I love you both!” Judy exclaimed happily as we hopped into the cruiser and waved back.

  
“We love you two, too!” Bonnie yelled back as we started to drive off down the drive way.

  
“Wait did she just?” I asked looking back, but judy only giggled.

  
Here it was, one big step accomplished. I guess the only thing I could do now is prepare myself. After all I only had a few months left, not that much time at all. But at least I knew I had a family I could go to if I really needed to, one that fully accepted my choices and actually supported me. What was funny though, despite all of that, all of their generosity, I could only think about one thing: Isabelle. I don’t know what it was about that name but…I liked it. It had a nice ring to it. Isabelle Wilde.

 


	8. The Final Day

_As the weeks progressed with dad’s term, things soon took an interesting change to say the least. He quickly found himself unable to do certain tasks that he used to do with ease! On top of that, there was the constant pain, especially around his back and feet. Mom always said it was karma because “he always keeps me on my feet” and “he's always a pain in my back.” Which I'm sure she meant, well the lower region but when talking to a kit she tried to make me smile and, despite the minor guilt I felt for dad when he went through his time to have me, thinking of dad in that discomfort because of “karma” was always funny for me. Yet, she only said this after I was born. Prior to that I knew, for a fact, that she was always there for dad whenever he needed it. According to dad she even slept over at his apartment just to make sure he would be okay. A claim that mom quickly denies though I know better than to believe her. With mom being a more frequent character in dad’s life it was inevitable for their emotions for one another to rise at some points and with them seeing one another on a regular basis…well let’s just say that some things changed. However it would still be sometime until dad actually did anything about his feelings towards mom…_

  
For the past few weeks, well almost two months, I had been spending a lot of time with Nick. Helping him prepare for the soon to be born kit. Nick had been counting down the remaining weeks he had left and both he and the doctor were certain they had about another month left. That alone was a big relief because nick was nowhere near ready! That may sound more insulting than what it truly is! When I say nick is “nowhere near ready”, again I don’t mean to sound rude, but he's still learning all the basic things on how to take care of a kit. Thanks to my parents help we thankfully took care of the clothing bit and the crib, but nick still had to go and buy all the other necessities, which I was more than happy to help him with! On some days we would spend hours in the malls around Zootopia.

Nick and I would go out many different stores, one of my personal favourites was called ‘Kits, Cubs, and Beyond!’ The whole place smelled like baby powder and had a wide variety of soft colours covering the store, ranging from blue to pink, and everything in between. It was one of my favourite stores, I remember coming here a few times with my sisters when they were getting stuff for themselves and their kits. Nick and I walked into the store and right away we, or I should say, I dragged him, to the clothing section. It was where we…or really, I, found so many cute outfits that would, at the time, fit both a boy and a girl.

  
“Carrots I think you’re going a little overboard with this, we won’t know the gender until today, and even when we do, I don’t want to know.”

“Yeah, yeah I know you told me! But look!” I squealed as I held up this adorable grey bunny onesie.

“You do know most fox kits tear up basically everything right?” Nick said with a smug grin.

  
“Ahah but look!” I said pointing to the tag “specially designed for young claws and gnaws. Rip and tear proof!”

“Stupid, smart, company. Alright fine! Throw it in the buggy.” Nick groaned as he tilted his head back in defeat.

Victorious, I threw the onesie in the cart and peered over to Nick’s stomach, which had grown in size over the past few weeks. The sight alone made me smile. It had taken more than a few attempts to get Nick out of his apartment, away from the pickles and peanut butter, to come out shopping with me. Not because he didn’t want to, though I'm sure he didn’t want to leave his “peanut-pickles”, but because he was still a little embarrassed about how he looked, constantly commenting on his weight. I once made the mistake of saying he was “as sweet as a blueberry” to which his response was “Why? Because I'm round?”

  
He didn’t talk to me for the rest of the day after that but I still stuck around to bug and look after him. He was my partner after all, and I still cared about him nonetheless. We did laugh about it later so, no harm no foul!

  
We kept walking around the store, throwing in a few things ranging from toys, to formula, bottles, and last but definitely not least, diapers. Nick grabbed one box and threw it into the cart without a moment's hesitation. I lightly slapped his arm, in a more playful manner than anything else, looking up at him sternly.

  
“Ow! What was that for?” Nick asked, rubbing his arm.

  
“You didn’t even read the box!”

  
“So? It says “diapers” what more is there to read?”

  
“How much it can handle, will it hurt the baby, how long will it stay dry for, does it cause any irritation towards the baby's legs-“

  
“Alright! I get it, mom!” Nick said with a sigh. I then looked down at the box, my eyes widened and I couldn't help but giggle.

  
“What?”

  
“Are those even for fox kits?” I asked Nick, covering my mouth as I sniggered.

  
“What do you mean “are they for fox kits?” Of course there for fox kits! It says right here built tough for your rhin-“

  
“I'm sorry can you say that one more time?” I said with a sly grin holding my paw up to my ear but Nick only growled, putting the box back where he found it. With a quick survey of the options, I jumped up to the one that I thought was best. I threw down a few boxes most of which landed in the cart.

  
“Geez Fluff, it’s only for one kit!” Nick said astonished as he looked at the pile of boxes I had thrown into the cart. I jumped down and dusted myself off.

  
“Trust me, you'll thank me later.” With a quick wink I peered down at my phone, I was suprised to realize that we had spent the last few hours in this one store, it was almost three in the afternoon, Nick’s appointment was at four, and I didn’t want to be late for that!

  
Nick and I walked over to the cash register and as we stood in line waiting, we were behind a young lioness. She turned around, just looking around the store, when she gazed down at Nick and I with our cart full of baby items. She then looked over at me, my hand on the cart.

  
“Ohh congratulations, how far along are you?” She asked, directing her question at me.

  
“W-what? Oh! No, no, I'm not pregnant!” I said with a nervous laugh as I rested my paw overtop of Nicks. The lioness gave me a puzzled looked when I smiled at Nick, who returned a smile to me. She didn’t say anything, she only turned back around and walked up to the counter.

  
With a small sigh, Nick rested his paw on top of his stomach, it was the perfect size for it. It hid under the handle of the cart, away from any prying eyes, though I'm sure a few mammals seen but didn’t say anything.

  
“Hey?” I said soft spoken, resting my paw on Nick’s shoulder. “You okay?”

  
“Y-yeah… I'm just, a little uncomfortable I guess.”

  
“Don't worry, we will be out of here in no time. Then it’s back home to rest, after your   
appointment of course.”

  
“Judy?”

  
“Yes?” I asked as we pushed the cart up to the counter.

  
“C-could you sleep at my place tonight? It’s a comfort knowing that I have someone there that'll help me if something happened.”

  
I looked up at Nick and right away I could see his worry, even his embarrassment for asking. It's not like I haven’t slept over before, especially in the recent weeks. Since winter was right around the corner, I did stay over more than a few times just to make sure Nick would be okay in case the power went out. Or if he had to go for an appointment, I would stay over so I could drive him. I'd be silly not to admit that there was a little bit of emotional gratification by staying over with Nick. We’ve often found ourselves either sleeping on the same furniture, usually the couch or the bed, but I never tried to push to hard. He was still going through his breakup and I think the last thing he needed was having someone flirt or try anything of that nature. But none the less, I took advantage of the circumstances, not to mention it was also more time together with Nick, which was nice after his enforced separation.

  
“I wouldn’t mind that in the slightest, I'd be happy to stay over.” I put my paw back down on Nick’s and when I peered back up to him, I noticed him staring down at my paw. Looking up at his eyes, his perfect, strong, emerald eyes, for that moment I could feel my heart start to beat faster, my mouth was dry and I opened to say what I’ve wanted to say for so long…

  
“NICK! JUDY!” An overly friendly voice screamed. Nick and I both jumped as we looked over at the store’s entrance. There, wearing a plaid shirt and cargo shorts was… Clawhauser? What in the world was he doing here? Wasn't he working?   
Nick produced a small squeak, which made me turn and look at him. His eyes were wide, his ears were down, and his tail was between his legs. The only reason we came at this time was to avoid this, but before I could say anything to stop it, Ben had already started to walk our way with a large smile on his face and both of his paws laden with bags from other stores.

  
“Benji, hi!” I said trying to sound excited but, internally, I was screaming.

  
“I thought I seen you two in here! I haven’t seen you guys around the precinct for a while. What's going on?” Ben said coming to a halt just ahead of Nick and I.

  
“Oh well we, uh…” I tried to think of something to say but before I could, Ben looked down at our cart, though Nick’s head was still down, the first thing Ben noticed was all of the baby supplies.

  
He moved his large paws up to his mouth, making his chubby cheeks jiggle, and started to laugh and giggle with excitement. He then bent over, as far as he could, still holding his paw over his mouth.

  
“Judy! You didn’t tell us that you were expecting!”

  
“No, no, Ben it’s not like that i-“

  
“Nick! Oh my goodness I almost forgot about you! How've you been, when Judy told   
us you were taking a leave from work a lot of us were worried sick! There's still a wager on if you'd come back alive or not! Some of us, not me of course, thought that Heather had killed you over something. Not that she would, she's so cute and sweet! You two make such a cute couple! How is she by the way? I mean, Judy hasn't told us anything and every time we start to bring up the conversation she-“

  
“Ben.” I said in a commanding tone.

  
“Yeah does that!” Ben then looked over the car and right away noticed Nick’s stomach. With his happy grin still on his face he let out a small giggle “Looks like all that time off took its toll on you Nicky, I mean like I'm one to say anything!” Ben said grabbing his stomach.

  
“Ben…” I said softly as I looked over at Nick who had yet to said a word and still had his head down in embarrassment.

  
Within a second, Ben’s happy-go-lucky smile was gone and it was replaced with a look of concern. Without saying a word he reached down, hooked his claws into the cart and slowly pulled it away from Nick. I wanted to stop him, to do something but I couldn’t…I was just, frozen. Ben moved the cart away fully exposing Nick’s stomach and its actual size. Nick didn’t look up, but Ben’s eyes went wide. He then put his paw to his mouth and looked over at me, his big, soft eyes were filled with empathy. Ben looked over at the register, then back down to us.

  
“You guys haven't paid yet, have you?”  
Nick only shook his head no, still keeping it down. I couldn’t begin to imagine what Nick was feeling, and I knew Ben could see how bad Nick felt.

  
“Good, it’s my treat then.” Nick’s head shot up and I reached over to stop Clawhauser but he didn’t give me the chance to. He handed his bank card over to the elk running the cash register and handed us the small copy of the receipt. The total alone came to just under 800 dollars. Nick, still speechless looked up at the large cheetah who was smiling happily as he put his card back into his wallet and into the pocket of his pants.

  
“You know, there's nothing wrong with this, right Nick?” Ben calmly said. Nick didn’t say anything, he only looked down at his stomach then, with his ears still down, he looked back up to Clawhauser.

  
“A lot of us at the precinct were waiting for you and Heather to settle down. We all think you would make a great dad.” Clawhauser straightened his back, exposing more of his chubby tummy which only added to his lovable personality.

  
“You two take care.” And as Ben started to turn to walk out of the store he spun back around and smiled at Nick “ I think I can speak for all of the department when I say; you better bring your little bundle of fox over to see us.” And with a small giggle Ben walked out of the store, just as happy as when he first walked in.

  
Though I was extremely happy with what Clawhauser did, Nick stood frozen and mute, still holding the receipt in hand. I pulled Nick and the cart along, away from the line of mammals that were standing behind us and the few strange looks that we were given. Guess they’ve never seen a fox and a bunny before.

  
“Hey.” I said softly, running my paw along Nick’s fur on his head and along his back.   
“You okay, Slick?”

  
“Yeah, I'm all good carrots.” Nick said, rubbing his eye. “Stupid hormones.” He added with a broken chuckle.

  
“Well, we have one more place to go and then we’re done for today. Think you can manage?” I asked, trying to get a little rise out of Nick. He smiled at me, brushing the rest of his tears away.

  
“Off we go again, one last time.”

  
“Let's go see what your little kit will be.” I moved my paw over the top of Nick’s as we both pushed the cart of baby supplies out of the store and on to our last stop of the day…

  
_Through the course of dad’s term there wasn't one appointment that he wasn't worried in some aspect. Was the baby okay? Was the artificial…everything still working? Would the test fail? I guess it was something all mothers felt, so it’s not like it was unheard of. But when it was a male worrying if something would go wrong with his pregnancy then it’s a little more unique. Though for the past twelve appointments or so, there were no problems, or any signs to indicate a problem, dad still worried. However this was his last appointment and for that, he was excited. His term was almost over and he, and “Aunt Judy” were both extremely excited to meet me, or rather the soon-to-be-born kit!_

 

When we arrived at the hospital Nick and I sat in the car and didn’t move. It was a moment of pure anticipation and anxiety that was shared between the two of us. Turning to look at Nick, I saw that both paws were around his stomach, one on the top of his bump and one cradling the bottom. His eyes were straight ahead and his soft pointed ears, that usually stood up with excitement and joy were low. They resembled the same night Heather had left Nick, a look I remember all too well.

  
“Hey, you okay slick?” I asked, reaching out to his shoulder and holding it tenderly.

  
“Yeah, I'm okay, Carrots. Just a little nervous I guess.” Nick chuckled, but it sounded more forced out than anything else.

  
“Everything will be fine, you'll see.” I said reassuringly. “Soon your kit will be brought into the world and our lives will be much better.” Wait, what?! What did I just say?  
Nick turned his head over to me, then to my paw on his shoulder. In that moment it felt like my heart was beating so fast it could've leaped out of my chest.

  
“What did you say?” Nick murmured.

  
“Nothing important!” I brushed off hurriedly. “Come on, we better get inside before we’re late!”

  
“Judy, wait.” Nick stated in a tone I had never heard before. It was a mixture of order but tenderness and caring. “There's something I wanted to ask you.”

  
“Yes, Nick?” Oh goodness if my heart wasn't beating fast enough then, it sure as heck was now!

  
“You know I care about you a lot, right? More than any other mammal, well…” Nick gave a small smile as he looked down at his stomach, “almost any other mammal.”   
I gave a small giggle, nodding in agreement.

  
“I can’t express how thankful I am to you for sticking by me for the past few months. Everything you’ve done for me, with me, I couldn’t wish for a better friend or partner.” Nick took a deep breath, his ears still lowered “I don’t know what's going to happen when the baby comes. I don’t and it scares me. So I’ve decided that, in the event something does happen, I want you to look after my kit.”

  
“Nick?” I questioned softly. Did I hear him right?

  
“I want you to be the godmother of my kit. It’d be nice knowing that they would be under the care of someone who knows what they're doing and who truly cares about them.”

  
“I don’t know what to say, thank you, Nick.” I said trying to keep my voice and excitement down. That alone wasn't completely what I was hoping for, but it made me just as happy.

  
“Hey, in case I don’t say it enough, I do love you, Carrots.” Nicks sly smile quickly disappeared into a look of embarrassment. “I-I mean you know, as a friend! I'd never want to jeopardize that or disrespect you or-“

  
I leaned in and quickly kissed his cheek. A good and quick way for him calm down and quite down. When I sat back in my seat Nick didn’t move a muscle. I’ve heard my siblings call me cold at times, I guess this just proves their claims.

  
“Come on, ya dumb fox, let’s get going. You’re going to make us late.” As I hoped out of the car, closing the door behind myself, my ears twitched slightly. As Nick stepped out, I heard a small muffled comment.

  
“Sly bunny.”

Walking into the hospital, it was quiet. More so than what you'd expect in a hospital. A few nurses passed us, some with patients in wheelchairs, with clothing in hand or even some food and medication, but most just walked by empty handed. I watched as many larger mammals stepped around us and, out of instinct and habit, I hurriedly grabbed Nick’s paw, my silly attempt to help him if he needed it. In Nick’s current term, he was arching his back, keeping his blueberry like tummy higher than normal. It was cute to watch but it also scared me. He was a walking target for any accident!

  
“Carrots could you loosen your grip on me?” Nick asked in a small chuckle.

  
“But what if something happens?” I exclaimed.

  
“The only thing that may happen soon is I may lose my arm due to a certain bunny squeezing it to hard and pulling it off in the process. If anything happens, I promise you’ll be the first to know. Here I thought I was the one who was supposed to be worried and nervous.” Nick said with a little laugh.

  
I did loosen my grip, but only a little bit. If I had to pull him away I was ready!

  
“Let's see…room 109…110….111…112 ah here we are room 113, look familiar, Carrots?”

  
As we stepped into the room right away I realized that it was the same room that I had barged in just a few months ago. To be honest, this was the first time I had actually came in with Nick to his appointment and not just waited out in the reception area. Not what I had imagined a doctor's appointment to look like for him. I expected a more elaborate set up, more machines to measure this that and the other thing. But that wasn't the case, it was just the standard sleeping arrangement, bed, dressers, seats, all normal.

  
With a shallow grunt Nick took a seat on the bed and slowly swung his legs over and sat up, using the headboard as a back support. With a quick huff he was in his position, I just hope the doctor doesn't ask him to move to much, by the look of Nick’s face he'd bite the next person who asked him to move. His ears were down and his tail was just barely twitching. It would have been so cute if it wasn't so funny. He reminded me of a kit that didn’t get what he wanted at the toy store.  
Before we knew it there was a small knock on the door and a mongoose in a white coat, white formal shirt, and jeans with a stethoscope around his neck walked through the door. He was smiling happily as he pushed his clipboard under his arm.

  
“Afternoon Nick, pleasure to see you again. How's my patient and soon to be patient? He asked as he walked towards Nick and I.

  
“I'm alive doc, I'm carrying what feels like a ton of weight in my stomach. My back and feet are sore. I crave the most disgusting things and I cry almost every hour.”

  
“That's fantastic! Seems the drugs and artificial substitutes are working perfectly!” The doctor said ecstatically as he wrote down some notes on his clipboard. He then looked over at me in confusion.

  
“I'm sorry I don’t think we’ve met. I'm Dr. Maison, and you are?”

  
“Oh right, I'm Judy. Judy Hopps, Nick’s partner.” I said extending my paw to shake his, which he gladly did as well.

  
“Oh of course! You’re the bunny cop that saved the city! My wife and I are friends with a friend of yours, the Ottertons? They talk about you both quite frequently. I wasn't aware you two were partners? Well this is Zootopia after all! Anyone can be anything, and anyone can be with anyone!”

  
My eyes widened along with Nicks when we heard the doctors last comment we both stuttered trying to figure out what to say. Nick was the one who blurted out the truth   
first.

  
“Not that kind of partners!” Nick said with a small laugh.

  
“Partners in the friend sense and at work.” I added.

  
“Well you two could've fooled me, but that’s none of my business. Are you ready to see the kit, Nick?” The doctor said as he put a paw on Nick’s lower leg.

  
Nick couldn’t speak, his excitement had built up when the doctor said that. He only nodded with a large grin across his face. Shortly after a young cheetah nurse, wearing a blue shirt and pants with a name and photo badge hanging of her shirt, walked into the room, pushing a cart with a small ultrasound machine on it. Something that I had seen many times from a few of my other sisters and even my mom. The doctor then coated Nick’s stomach in a clear gel which caused Nick to jump slightly as the doctor rubbed it in.

  
“It's cold, haha.” Nick said as he took a quick breath.   
The doctor turned on the machine and pulled the sensor over to Nick’s stomach. I moved to the end of Nick’s bed, near his feet, as the doctor sat beside him on a chair but kept the monitor away from us.

  
“Okay Mr. Wilde, the image is coming into view.” The doctor said with minor excitement in his voice.   
I guess seeing something grow from stage one, even to someone who's not a family member, it must be a enjoyable and humble feeling.   
Nick started to fidget, biting his lip and moving his hands around in his excitement. I sat down on the foot of the bed, reached over and held his paw and smiled softly at him. A small way to calm him down. My smile prompted nick to calmly smile back at me, relief and joy in his eyes as he rubbed my paw with his thumb.

  
“Here he is!”

  
“It's a he!” Nick asked in astonishment as he almost bolted up but stopped when his stomach pained.

  
“Sorry bad word to use. I can’t see that yet but I do see your kit, Nick.”

  
“That's okay, but can I see?”

  
“Do you want to wait until I can find something to tell the gender?”

  
“No, I prefer to keep it a surprise.”

  
“In that case.”   
The doctor happily turned the screen around, now facing Nick and I and on the screen showed a small figure, a small fox that was curled up. It's small ears and tail could be easily seen along with its paws and feet but nothing else.

  
“Oh my goodness.” Nick said cupping his mouth as he began to softly cry. I soon joined him, feeling tears of pure joy build up in my eyes, I didn’t want to take my eyes away from the screen. Soon there was a small movement, Nick looked down in excitement.

  
“I felt that! Carrots! Look!” Nick took my paw and placed it on his stomach, we waited for a second another movement, another small kick.

  
I was at an absolute loss for words, I looked back up at the screen and right away my eyes caught something. I turned to Nick but thankfully, his head was still down. I lightly nudged the sensor with my hand, changing its angle but still keeping it on the kit.

  
“Congrats Mr. Wilde, it seems your term is very, very close to being complete. If it wouldn't be too much to ask, do you mind staying a few nights so we can do some final observations?”

  
“No, not at all doc.” Nick said in a calm, passive voice as he lied back on the bed, holding his stomach. The doctor then signalled me to the door. Nick was in his own world so I didn’t think he would mind.   
I followed the doctor out of the room, shutting the door behind us. The look on the doctor’s face told me right away the he kept something from Nick, and that worried me.

  
“You have no idea how thankful I am that you’re here.”

  
“Pardon?” I asked, but the doctor only sighed.

  
“Nick’s A.E.C.U, what gives his kit the ability to grow in him, is made of a organic material so there is no probability of him getting hurt through infection. However there seems to be a small tear through the first layering. Something that I don’t think he noticed, nor will he.”

  
“Why is it a good thing that I'm here?”

  
“If the unit breaks it can cause damage to him, more so than the normal procedure would. I'm not going to lie, I'm not sure what the chances are that he'd walk out of the O.R.”

  
“Are you telling me Nick is…”

  
“Heavens no! Thankfully I can prep everything prior to try and minimize any problems, but you need to stay with him. Keep him calm and collected.”

  
I nodded in agreement as the doctor thanked me once more and shook my paw. When I walked back in, Nick, to my surprise, was already fast asleep. Curled up in a small ball on his side, his tail curled around himself. I softly giggled as I walked towards him and sat down where the doctor sat. I was just about to rest my head when I felt a soft tap on my leg. Nick moved over on the bed and patted the empty spot beside him. Smiling, I moved onto the bed, snuggling close beside him. Nick then wrapped his arm around me and for the first time since I had solved my first case, I felt at ease.

  
“I…move Mose…” nick mumbles softly

  
“Hmm?” I asked softly as I put my ear a little closer to his snout.

  
“I…love you, Judy…” Nick mumbled, like he was dreaming. My eyes went wide but only for a second, they then softened as I felt my heart beat a little faster.

  
“I love you too, you dumb fox.” I said in a soft whisper as I began to sleep calmly in his arms…

“Huh…what?” I asked as I began to open my eyes.

Something woke me up, but I wasn’t sure what. The sun was gone and the room was darker than before, the light of the hallway outlining the door and shaded window. I felt something shaking beside me and it took me a minute to realize it was Nick. I put my paw on the bed and as I did it was quickly met with a wet sensation.

  
“What the?” My eyes bolted open as I jumped off the bed and turned on the lamp. The bed was soaked with a pink and yellowish mixture.

  
“Judy…..” a weak voice groaned.

  
I lifted my head and there was Nick, lying down, his hand red, clutching his stomach.

  
“Nick!” I shouted in panic as I kneeled down beside him. Then, without even thinking I bolted up and slammed the panic button signalling an alarm to rig throughout the wing.

  
**_CODE BLUE-ROOM 113! CODE BLUE-ROOM 113!_ **

  
“Come on Nick, stay with me! Stay with me!” I looked over Nick in sheer horror…”This wasn’t supposed to happen….”

 


	9. Isabelle M. Wilde

_Mom always described the day I was born as being one of the most miraculous and memorable days of her life. The thing was, it was always her describing it, never Dad. Dad was unconscious for most of the procedure and when he did come to, it wasn't long enough to process what was going on. Mom liked to say, "It was the day that we had both been waiting for. We were both so anxious to meet you, to welcome you into this world." Well, those may be the words she uses now, but I know for a fact that those words were nowhere to be found on the day of my birth…_

 

There were so many things happening at once that for a while, I was at a complete loss as to what was actually going on. Only after the doctor and his team rushed into Nick's room and attempted to control the liquids that were coming from Nick did I start to come back from my own little world, though that is a generous statement. In reality, I was frozen; filled with absolute terror. The last thing Nick had said to me was that he loved me and wanted me to look after his kit if something happened. There was so much to take in, so many questions and absolutely no time for answers to any of them. I watched on, helpless and dazed, as the doctor and his team, which consisted of the nurse that came by just a few hours ago and a few other mammals, prepped Nick's bed and began pushing him out of the room and into the hallway. The doctor shook me, giving my face a few light taps.

 

"Officer Hopps! We have to go!" The doctor exclaimed, grabbing my paw and chasing after the rapidly moving bed.

As my initial shock faded, I grabbed the bed's rails that the nurses had lifted and jumped onto the side of the cart. They were running much faster than I could keep up with, especially in the state of shock I was in.

"Hang in there Nick, you'll be fine, just stay with me."

I tried to sound calm and collected but that was just for Nick's sake, as cliche as that may sound. The truth was, I was scared. Scared I was going to lose my best friend, my partner, the mammal that had just said he loved me and I couldn't even confront him about it or say anything to him!

 

"Doctor, we're losing him!" The nurse stated, her voice wavering as she tried to control her panic.

"Give him a low dose of Epinephrine! Were almost at the OR, just keep him going!"

I looked down in sheer panic as Nick lied there, motionless. The nurse was pumping air through to his muzzle but he didn't move. His chest was still and the only hint of life was the slight blip on monitors that were being pulled beside him.

"Don't die on me you dumb fox. You hear me…I need you…" I whispered, my voice cracking as I squeezed Nick's paw and rubbed away my tears.

 

Suddenly a pair of paws hooked under my arms and yanked me out of the bed as the nurses pushed Nick into a new room. The OR. I took a step towards it, but was stopped by a paw gripping my arm. It was the doctor.

 

"I'm sorry Officer Hopps, you can't go in there."

"What? But Nick-"

"Will be taken care of. But you need to stay out here, at least until we make sure he's okay."

"But what about the kit? Will she be okay?"

"If we can prevent any internal damage to Nick then yes, but please, you need to wait out here."

He then ran into the OR, the doors swinging shut behind him, leaving me alone in the hall...

 

Three hours. Nick was in that room for three hours, or at least that was how long I had to wait outside. It's funny, you never think about how much someone means to you until that moment when you might never see them again. Not until that rushed goodbye or good night might be the last thing you say to them. What was the last thing I said to Nick? That I loved him. Even that though, what did I mean? Was it just platonic? Something you say to your friend when they mean a lot to you? Or was it truly something more? What about him? When he said it, did he mean as a friend? Or did he feel like there was something more? He was my best friend, my partner. But at the same time we were completely different species, a fox and a bunny. Predator and prey. That would be so wrong, an impossibility.

Even if we did have those types of feelings, we could never pursue them. We were ZPD officers, the media would flip over that, on top of it all who would accept us? The worst part is that we may never get a chance to find out. But then again, who would accept a pregnant, male, fox?

"Well…there's Clawhauser, Mom and Dad and all of my brothers and sister, well maybe not all but most of them. And of course the doctor, who did say 'Zootopia, where anyone could be anything and where anyone could be with anyone.'"

In that moment, I had to ask myself, how did I truly feel about Nick? Was he just a friend or was there something more? Something that, despite everything that I had grown up believing, was more powerful than any of the norms that had been drilled into my head. In the end, I guess the question is: Do I truly love Nick Wilde?

Before I could think of an answer, a young doe poked her head out of the door and surveyed the room. Her eyes lit up and her ears rose quickly when she saw me. I froze as I met her gaze and a rush of joy and anguish fell over me. My heart hoped for the best, but my mind feared the worst. But I didn't get up right away, I didn't want my excitement to get the better of me.

 

"Ms. Hopps?" The young doe asked as she inched forward, letting the door swing closed behind her.

"Yes?" I asked softly, standing up on the chair but trying hard to hide any of my emotions.

With a warm smile and a twinkle in her eyes, she squatted down in front of me.

"The surgery performed on Mr. Wilde was a success. They're about to start the removal of the kit from the ACE-U. If you want to be present during that time you are welcome."

 

A small gasp escaped but I quickly covered my mouth keeping any small or embarrassing squeaks and sounds to myself. I felt the tension drain out of my body knowing that he was okay. Or…was he? She said the surgery was a success but that was more for the health of the kit than Nick. Once again my anxious mind created an all new worry, well, it enhanced a worry that was already present.

 

Swallowing hard, I looked down at my feet. " Is Nick..."

"Mr. Wilde is perfectly stable." The nurse assured with a smile. "He's currently on heavy sedatives, but he's conscious. For the most part."

When I didn't acknowledge the nurse's small comment she stood back up and walked to the door, not letting her calm demeanor diminish in any way. She grabbed the door and held it open, looking back at me.

"Would you like to see them?"

Them?

"Yes, yes please."

 

_Throughout my life I've heard countless time that pregnancy was, or should I say is, a beautiful thing. Mammals always focus on that beauty, but rarely acknowledge on the actual fear of the person going through it. I've lost track on the many times my aunts or cousins on Mom's side have cursed their husbands or wives for, and I quote, "doing this to them." But that is how they feel. What about the significant other? In this case, to be completely realistic, Dad didn't have a significant other, no one he was in a relationship with. There was no other mammal whose concern for his health was because of their deep emotional connection. Or so he thought. Yes they weren't in a relationship at the time, but Mom still feared the worse. That the operation would go wrong or something that no one could expect would happen. That in the end, the mammal she loved would be taken from her before she could say how she truly felt. She felt the same stress and panic a significant other would feel as she donned her scrubs and became sterilized…_

 

I took a step into the well lit room and surveyed the scene in front of me. There were a few nurses standing around, some with equipment and some shifting on their paws, waiting for the doctor's next command. He was standing to Nick's side, facing away from the table. The table. I was scared to look up, scared to see the state of Nick. My head stayed down as I walked across the room to the table, watching my covered feet take one slow step after another. The floor soon brightened and became sullied with red spots and streaks. That's when I had to look up, I couldn't take it otherwise.

There he was. There was Nick. Lying peacefully on the table, breathing softly with a mask covering his muzzle. He was in a blue robe which parted just above his upper chest. His ears were tucked into a blue cap and his eyes were closed, if I hadn't known any better I could have sworn he was just sleeping like always.

Taking a deep breath, I reached up and gently rested my paw on Nick's shoulder, keeping it there as I looked at him, my heart beating faster than ever before.

 

"Nick?"

As soon as I spoke, Nick's eyes crept open, revealing the emerald shade that turned heads and made my heart leap everyday. A small smile crossed both of our faces.

"Hey Carrots." Nick croaked, "Here I thought you were going to miss all of the fun."

"Of course not, Slick. We're partners, right?" I said, feeling a small tear leak from my eye and run down my cheek.

"We're more than that, Fluff." Nick slowly moved his paw up to cradle my cheek, brushing the tear away as he did. "Bunnies…are so emotional. I hope the kit won't copy you."

"No she won't."

Nick blinked fast for only a second, his eyes widening at my comment. His face lit up as he sank back into his pillow, beaming as he brought his arm back down to his side.

"She? It's a girl?"

 

I only nodded my head in response, tearing up once more as I saw the elation in Nick's eyes. He was too sedated to show any real emotions, but at that moment I knew he wanted to cry with joy. Just as Nick began to sink back down to the table, a loud sound echoed through the room. At first, I didn't know what it was, it hit my ears so quickly and loudly that I was shaken, but then it dawned on me as fast at it surprised me; it was a cry. A baby's first cry. My head turned to the sound as Nick closed his eyes and sighed like he was having a great weight lifted off of his chest, or in this case, his stomach.

For a minute, something changed, I could see what was happening, but I wasn't there. It was like I was watching it all happen, but not as myself. I felt weightless, untouchable, like there wasn't a care in the world. I had just witnessed something that was, prior to this day, considered a biological impossibility. But here it was. After months of waiting, time, and love, and not just from me, but from Nick to the young kit, she was finally here. Even as the doctors cleaned her and swaddled her in a pink blanket, I was still in my own world.

The doctors made their way over to Nick and I tried to retreat, but the doctor stopped right in front of me before I could move. With a soft smile the doctor placed the tiny kit in my arms and stood back, admiring what was essentially something that he had created, though that is a bit of an exaggeration.

I looked down at the miniscule bundle in my arms, she wiggled slightly as I held her close to me. I wasn't her mother but there was no doubt in my mind; she would always be my girl. I would always be there for her, no matter what.

"Hey there." I murmured, lightly nuzzling her cheek with mine. "I'm your auntie Judy and this is your daddy, your papa." I said as I sat on the side of the table beside Nick.

He let out a soft groan and he began to open his eyes. He was still dazed, but it didn't take him long to realize what, or who, I had in my paws.

 

"I-is that?"

"This is your daughter, Nick." I leaned over, guiding Nick's arms and paws around to hold the kit. "This is-"

"Isabelle…"

 

A few hours after Nick's surgery, and after baby Isabelle was weighed and examined, which was not something Nick was overly happy about but understood, we were back in their room sitting in absolute silence. Nick was holding Isabelle as I sat beside them, caressing and nuzzling the sleeping kit.

During our peaceful time there was a soft knock on the door. After a few moments, the doctor poked his head in and, with a warm smile, walked in, closing the door behind him.

 

"Mr. Wilde, I can't stress how thrilled I am that the procedure was a complete success. You have no idea what type of advances can come from this! A way to have a biological child for mammals in same sex relationships, possible limb growth for those who have lost it in accidents! Nick, you and your kit have unlocked a revolutionary new medical avenue!"

"That's great doc, but would you mind telling us all of this in a few hours?" Nick asked, not looking up at the doctor.

"Oh, of course." The doctor replied, mildly embarrassed. He began walking out but paused just before he left, "There was one more thing I wanted to ask. Isabelle's birth certificate. We have you listed as the father, but as for the mother…what would you like to do?"

 

A light growl escaped from Nick. I already knew what he was thinking, what he would do. It was the right thing, just not the most palatable thing.

 

"Her mother is Heather Minrow."

"Alright, I'll be sure to make note of that. Last thing, I just want to clarify the baby's name again. It was-"

"Isabelle. Isabelle Marie Wilde."

* * *

 

Hey everyone! So, after months of writing (and consistent writers block) I’m happy to release the last chapter of ICABS! Now this does not mean Isabelle’s story is over! As some of you may be aware I plan on taking a short break before the new story (which has not been named yet) ! The new story will focus only on Isabelle’s life from infancy to young adult.

I have also teamed up with Zootopia123, a talented writer who has kindly offered to help Trash and I plan, write and edit the new story! (If you don’t know Zootopia123 check out his work on AO3 or Tumblr!)

I have high hopes and plan to write In a more elaborate fashion than any of my other stories. With that being said I can assure you that I will still include upsetting scenes, scenes that’ll make you angry, happy, sad, and just generally annoyed! Also, there is a large field of thanks to give to all of those who supported the story with comments of encouragement and support! Every time I see a comment, need it be on one of the sites I post on or a reblog on tumblr with a cute comment, it all makes me smile!

I want to take this moment to thank @trashasaurusrex for giving me the great pleasure of writing Isabelle’s story primarily Nicks pregnancy, it has been an fun challenge and an interesting one at that!

But without further stalling for time, in six minutes give or take, the last chapter will be released and we hope you all enjoy!

Love always, thank you all so much!

-Nexi/Jay


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